Illinois GOP governor candidate Darren Bailey held fundraiser on legislative session day in apparent violation of ban

CHICAGO - Republican governor nominee Darren Bailey held a fundraiser in Joliet on May 22, his campaign acknowledged Friday, an apparent violation of a 2022 Illinois law prohibiting state elected officials and candidates from holding events to raise campaign cash on days when lawmakers are in session in Springfield.

The revelation comes after a Republican group in northwest suburban Barrington Township called off a fundraiser scheduled for Thursday, when lawmakers were also at work in the Illinois Capitol, following questions from The Chicago Tribune about whether the $500-per-plate dinner would have complied with the session-day fundraising ban.

The May 22 event at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Joliet was advertised on the post's Facebook page with a digital flyer that asked for a $100 minimum contribution and offered VIP status, including a chance to win a set of golf clubs, for a $500 contribution. Fine print on the flyer noted that campaign contributions are not tax-deductible and directed supporters to the Bailey for Illinois campaign fund's website for more information.

During remarks that were recorded and posted on social media, Bailey asked attendees for their prayers and support in getting out the vote, noting, "You're here; you brought your funding."

"It's the financial support that gets us on the air, that helps us to reach the people outside of social media," Bailey said.

As a state senator, Bailey voted in 2021 in support of a broad overhaul of state government ethics laws that expanded an earlier prohibition on fundraisers in Sangamon County, home to the state capital, when lawmakers were in session. The newer provision prohibits statewide elected officials such as the governor, attorney general or secretary of state, members of the General Assembly, or any candidate for those offices from holding "a political fundraising function on any day the legislature is in session or the day immediately prior to such day." The prohibition also applies to "any political committee on behalf of" those elected officials or candidates.

In response to the Tribune on Friday, a Bailey campaign spokesman didn't dispute that the former state lawmaker and two-time GOP nominee for governor held a fundraising event on the same day the General Assembly was in session.

"The event was private, and the law being cited was intended to prevent bad actors from improperly influencing legislation and elected officials," Bailey spokesman Jose Durbin wrote in a text message. "Darren Bailey is not an elected official. The Illinois State Board of Elections doesn't even enforce the provision being cited."

Indeed, as the Tribune previously reported, the prohibition on holding political fundraisers on legislative session days is largely untested, and it's unclear who would be responsible for enforcing it.

Durbin did not respond to a follow-up question on whether Bailey - a southern Illinois conservative who's made law-and-order messaging central to both his statewide campaigns - holds the position that it's OK to disregard laws that aren't being enforced.

In his second bid for governor - this time without the support of Republican megadonors such as Richard Uihlein of the packaging-supplies giant Uline - Bailey has struggled to raise sufficient campaign funds to compete with billionaire Gov. JB Pritzker.

In the first three months of the year, Bailey's campaign raised nearly $604,000 but started April with just under $82,000 in his campaign account after winning the March 17 GOP primary. Since April 1, he's reported raising nearly $135,000 in large-dollar contributions, according to state campaign finance records.

Pritzker contributed $25.5 million to his own campaign fund in November and was uncontested for the Democratic nomination.

"Spare us the outrage," Durbin said in his initial response to the Tribune. "Darren Bailey isn't a billionaire trying to influence Springfield - JB Pritzker is."

On Wednesday, the Barrington Township Republican Organization postponed a fundraising dinner scheduled for the following day after inquiries from the Tribune.

The group had invited supporters in an online advertisement to "a very private dinner" Thursday at a South Barrington restaurant with Bailey and running mate Aaron Del Mar. The $500-per-plate dinner, limited to 25 seats, would have been "paid for by the BTRO with all NET proceeds from dinner benefiting Bailey for Illinois," according to a digital flyer featuring pictures of the candidates and their campaign logo.

State campaign finance and election law experts told the Tribune that advertising that proceeds from an event were to be routed to a specific campaign committee, which itself would have been prohibited from holding a fundraiser, is, at best, a legal gray area.

Terry Yormark II, chairman of the Barrington Township Republican Organization, said the group's attorneys maintained that the fundraiser would have been in compliance with the law but called off the event because "if there is even a 1% chance some opposing attorney disagrees, it isn't something worth fighting over."

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 9:45 PM.