ANALYSIS — The chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee is at risk of losing his primary on Tuesday.
Illinois Republican Mike Bost was first elected in 2014 with a reputation for being a bomb-throwing outsider. Democrats thought his viral rant on the floor of the state legislature was a liability in his initial race, when in fact it resonated with voters in southern Illinois. A decade later, Bost is being labeled as the establishment candidate against a challenger who might be failing up the political ladder.
Former state legislator Darren Bailey lost the 2022 race for governor to Democratic incumbent J.B. Pritzker by more than a dozen points statewide, but finished ahead of the governor in Illinois’ 12th District by 48 points, 73-25 percent. While Illinois is solidly blue, the 12th District is closer to Missouri, Kentucky and Indiana than it is to Chicago in its proximity and politics.
