East Central Reporter

Sen. Darren Bailey claimed victory at the polls to face Gov. J.B. Pritzker in November, and many of his supporters are celebrating.

“He won,” Rep. Adam Niemerg wrote on Facebook with an image of him with Bailey.

Ballotpedia reported that Bailey beat five other Republicans in the June race.

The Peoria Journal Star shows Bailey topping the Republican slate of candidates for governor, with 97.08% of votes counted. He received 453,469 votes or 57.7%.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that former President Donald Trump endorsed Bailey.

“I’ve made a promise to President Trump that in 2024, Illinois will roll the red carpet out for him because Illinois will be ready for President Trump,” Bailey said, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Neimerg spent some of his summer campaigning for Bailey, SE Illinois reported. In late June, he joined Bailey's campaign bus tour. Niemerg took to Facebook to express his approval for Bailey. In his post, Niemerg said, "It was my pleasure to spend last week campaigning for Bailey for governor."

The Chicago Sun-Times called for Bailey to show his tax returns for transparency for voters in an editorial.

“No, Bailey isn’t under any legal obligation to make his tax returns public,” the editorial said. “There are no requirements for candidates and elected officials to do so. But if Bailey is serious about serving the public as governor, he ought to play ball."

Niemerg has also called for lawmakers to return to Springfield to deal with the energy crisis, according to East Central Reporter. Niemerg called for his colleagues to return to Springfield to deal with questions about the state's energy supply in a Facebook post on Thursday. 

“We need to get back to Springfield,” he told The Center Square. “We need to repeal the Green New Deal. We need to bring Ameren [an energy supplier] to the table and actually have a productive energy policy moving forward.”