Darren Bailey, who lost Illinois' 2022 gubernatorial race to Democrat billionaire JB Pritzker, will get a rematch in November after winning Tuesday's Republican primary.

Newsmax and Decision Desk HQ called the race for Bailey, a former state senator and representative from downstate Xenia, who defeated three challengers with 52.7% of the vote, with 76% reporting. Former bank executive Ted Dabrowski followed with 29.5%, DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick had 9.5%, and businessman Rick Heidner 8.3%.

Bailey lost to Pritzker by 12.5 percentage points (54.9% – 42.4%) in 2022, in a state that has elected just one Republican governor this century. Pritzker, who is seeking a third term, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Bailey mounted his comeback bid after a family tragedy – the deaths of his son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren in a helicopter crash last fall.

President Donald Trump, who endorsed Bailey's first run, urged him to stay in the race, and the devout Christian cited a higher calling to continue the conservative fight in heavily blue Illinois.

"There was just this welling up in our heart that set in, and I knew that we were being called to do this," Bailey told the Chicago Sun-Times ahead of Election Day. "I'm fighting for my children and my grandchildren and a better future for everyone in Illinois."

In the state's U.S. Senate race to replace longtime Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin, who is retiring, former state GOP chair Don Tracy of Springfield clinched the Republican nomination. Newsmax and Decision Desk HQ called the race for Tracy, who defeated five other candidates with 40.3% of the vote, with 93% reporting.

He will face Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who defeated six challengers with 39.3% of the vote, with 75% reporting, according to Decision Desk HQ. Stratton received a strong challenge from Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who had 33.6%.

In heavily Democrat Illinois, the last Republican elected to the Senate was Mark Kirk in 2010, and the GOP's last statewide victory came in 2014. The Democrat nominee is the prohibitive favorite in November to replace Durbin after his 30-year Senate tenure.

In other Republican primary races in Illinois called by Decision Desk HQ:

• Incumbent Rep. Mary Miller won in the 15th Congressional District.
• Christian Maxwell won in the 1st Congressional District.
• Tommy Hanson won in the 5th Congressional District.
• Niki Conforti won in the 6th Congressional District.
• Chad Koppie won in the 7th Congressional District.
• Jeff Wilson won in the 13th Congressional District.
• James Marter won in the 14th Congressional District.

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