Former state Sen. Darren Bailey conceded to U.S. Rep. Mike Bost in the competitive Republican primary in the Metro East and Southern Illinois, according to Bailey's campaign.
It is Bost's second intraparty challenge in seeking his sixth term in Congress. Bailey, the unsuccessful 2022 GOP nominee for governor, was hoping to unseat the 63-year-old incumbent.
Bailey, 57, has maintained that Bost is not conservative enough. Illinois' 12th Congressional District, redrawn after the 2020 Census, now includes a large chunk of southeastern Illinois that gave Donald Trump more than 70% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020. Bailey's hopes to win the endorsement in this race from the former president were dashed when Trump, the presumptive 2024 presidential nominee, gave his backing to Bost.
Bost thanked Trump during a speech to supporters late Tuesday and emphasized the need for finding common ground.
"If we stay united as a party, we can truly advance the agenda," he said.
The issues are clear in the race: Rebuffing any regulation on the possession of guns, reducing inflation, opposing abortion and sealing the U.S. southern border, a particular problem for Illinois, which has received roughly 36,000 migrants who have largely crossed into Texas and have been sent to Chicago.
Bailey contends Republicans in Congress should fight Democrats' agenda on these and other issues and cooperate only when they abandon "extreme" positions. Bost opposes Democrats' policies but calls himself a "governing conservative," seeking compromise to get things done.
