Aaron Del Mar, freshly named Darren Bailey’s running mate, didn’t mince words when he accused Gov. J.B. Pritzker of treating Illinois like a launching pad for national ambitions rather than a place to govern. Del Mar openly suggested Pritzker is positioning himself for a 2028 presidential bid and has been prioritizing media moments over solving the failures that drive families out of our state. Conservatives who love Illinois shouldn’t shrug at that — this is the kind of narcissistic, coast-chasing leadership that hollowed out our communities.
Bailey’s campaign launch made the ticket official: the downstate fighter who nearly won in 2022 has tapped Cook County Republican chair Aaron Del Mar to crack Chicago and rebuild the GOP coalition statewide. The move signals a new, serious strategy to contest the Chicago suburbs and reengage voters who’ve been ignored by the Democrat machine for too long. This isn’t a vanity pick — it’s a tactical bet that Republican organizers can reclaim ground if they finally show up where it matters.
Del Mar spelled out the argument plainly: Illinois has been governed for Chicago’s elites while the rest of the state pays the bill. He said voters are tired of politicians who post polished social-media moments while neighborhoods rot and small businesses fold under crushing taxes. That kind of political theater may win cable applause, but it does nothing for parents, seniors, and workers who deserve safe streets and real opportunity.
On the mechanics of winning, Del Mar didn’t offer wishful thinking — he proposed a focused plan to flood precincts with Republican election judges and watchdogs during early voting, Election Day, and ballot tabulation to ensure transparency and integrity. Illinois conservatives have watched planned Democratic turnout operations and lax oversight turn competitive states into one-party fiefdoms; it’s time Republicans matched organization with vigilance. If you want to beat Chicago’s entrenched power brokers, you must show up where votes are cast and counted.
The political opening Del Mar and Bailey are banking on is real: Republicans are making measurable inroads in the city, with President Trump increasing his share of the Chicago vote and winning pockets that used to be untouchable. That swing didn’t happen by accident — working-class voters, law enforcement families, and ethnically conservative neighborhoods are signaling their disgust with failed Democrat governance. A disciplined, aggressive turn-out and persuasion operation can make those gains permanent.
Public safety is where the difference between talk and action becomes life and death. Chicago has hemorrhaged officers and seen staffing crises, and the mayor and governor have too often reflexively reject federal offers while lecturing residents instead of protecting them. The result is exhausted cops, hollowed-out beats, and the kind of permissive environment criminals exploit — and the American families who pay taxes and raise kids there pay the price.
Bailey and Del Mar are selling a simple message that resonates with normal people: focus on affordability, public safety, and education — the everyday concerns that cross party lines. Call it conservatism without the arrogance: lower taxes, back the blue, and give parents control of schools. That triad is where you win back industrial towns, suburbs, and even moderate city voters who have had enough of being taken for granted.
Their geographic strategy is smart and unapologetic. Republican operatives will stop ceding southern Illinois to complacency and will go after the suburban and township voters in Cook County that Democrats assume they own. Politics is about math and muscle: flip turnout in the parts of the state Democrats ignore, and Illinois stops being a permanent left-wing monopoly. Del Mar’s insider knowledge of suburban Cook County gives the ticket a real shot at converting frustration into ballots.
This race is a choice between careerist politics and servant leadership. Voters tired of billionaires using Illinois as a springboard to higher office should see Bailey-Del Mar as the only ticket promising to put Illinoisans first. If conservatives and patriots want real change, it’s time to translate righteous anger into organization, volunteers, and votes — because politicians who abandon their state only respect strength at the ballot box.
