Governor
JB Pritzker
Democrat
Darren Bailey
Republican
COST OF LIVING & AFFORDABILITY
JB Pritzker
Pritzker created Illinois’ first Child Tax Credit. Supported legislation to ban junk fees on services, food, and ticketing. Implemented back-to-school sales tax holidays for clothing and school supplies. Signed legislation expanding eligibility for low-income energy assistance and requiring new reporting on bill changes. Blamed federal policies like tariffs and foreign wars for increasing the cost of living.
Pritzker invested millions into upgrade grants and new store developments to maintain fresh food access and prevent food deserts. Improved SNAP processing times. Criticized federal moves to cut Social Security Administration staff and threaten future benefit cuts. Proposed agenda to fully fund pensions by 2048, devoting extra revenue to pensions and ensuring Social Security requirement compliance.
Pritzker: Economic Security Project, 2/18/2026; WCPT 820, 6/1/2026; Capitol News Illinois, 7/9/2026; My Stateline, 6/17/2026; HB 4248; Economic Security Project, 5/15/2025; Press Release, Making Illinois Stronger; Press Release, 3/20/2025; Capitol News Illinois, 2/3/2026.
Darren Bailey
Bailey proposed an Illinois DOGE to audit the Illinois budget. Suggested numerous state boards and commissions deserve scrutiny and duplicative services could be consolidated. Proposed annual property tax caps. After a town hall, local media characterized Bailey’s visit as he and his running mate “did not offer suggestions on how they plan to bring down other costs, including local property taxes or food.”
As a state Senator, Bailey proposed legislation to eliminate pension protection language in the Illinois constitution. The proposal would have allowed pension benefits to be reduced or changed, regardless of whether they had already been earned or established.
JOBS & WAGES
JB Pritzker
Pritzker backed the 2022 ballot initiative that made Illinois the first state in the nation to write a Workers’ Rights Amendment into its constitution. His first legislative victory as governor raised Illinois’ wage floor from $8.25 to $15 an hour, and he signed the Paid Leave for All Workers Act in 2023, guaranteeing up to 40 hours of paid leave a year to every Illinois worker.
Pritzker signed the Worker Freedom of Speech Act, banning captive audience meetings — the mandatory sessions employers use to talk workers out of organizing.
Pritzker kept building on worker enforcement in 2026: signed HB 4725 expanding the Attorney General’s Workplace Rights Bureau to issue subpoenas, take sworn answers, inspect employer premises and interview workers — real teeth for wage theft cases — and HB 4844 requiring employers to pay workers their regular rate for jury service.
Pritzker has supported regulations on the use of algorithmic monitoring tools to evaluate, discipline, or terminate employees, opposing “dehumanizing surveillance.”
Pritzker: Capitol News Illinois, 12/26/2024; Illinois Department of Labor, Paid Leave for All Workers Act; Capitol News Illinois, 7/31/24; Gov. Pritzker newsroom, 7/31/24; Press release, 7/31/26; Choseno, 8/25/26.
Darren Bailey
In the Illinois State House, Bailey voted against Pritzker’s bill to raise the minimum wage.
Bailey told unions to “stay in your lane” and “leave private businesses alone.” Claimed that labor unions cause economic hardship.
Bailey takes pride in how little he passed. Asked about his legislative record, he pointed to the small number of his bills that became law: “We do not need more government — more government like J.B. Pritzker wants.”
Bailey: SB 1, 2/14/2019; Blueprint for Illinois; Courthouse News, 10/6/22; Chicago Sun-Times, 9/30/22.
Health Care
JB Pritzker
Pritzker signed a law capping out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 for a 30-day supply — down from an earlier $100 cap he signed in 2020 — and launched a medical debt relief program that has erased more than $1.1 billion in medical debt for over 500,000 Illinoisans. Signed the Prescription Drug Affordability Act in July 2025, cracking down on predatory pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and creating a grant program that has distributed nearly $25 million to 434 independent Illinois pharmacies.
Darren Bailey
Bailey said health care costs are high because of too many mandates on insurance coverage. Supports allowing companies to offer more scaled-down, affordable plans. Said eliminating fraud will also help lower costs.
Bailey: Peoria Journal Star, 5/27/2022.
U.S. Senate
Juliana Stratton
Democrat
Don Tracy
Republican
COST OF LIVING & AFFORDABILITY
Juliana Stratton
As Lieutenant Governor, Stratton helped eliminate Illinois’ grocery tax, raise the state minimum wage, and relieve medical debt for thousands of families. Wants to end the trade war that is raising prices on everyday goods and cut taxes for the middle class, paid for by raising taxes on those earning over $1 million a year.
Stratton names corporate greed alongside tariffs as the reason food, health care and utility prices keep climbing — and says that is not the fault of working Illinoisans but of leaders looking out for their wealthy friends.
Stratton wants to protect Social Security and Medicare for Illinois retirees. “Standing up for Social Security is not just right–it’s in our own best interest, and this fight is for all of our futures.”
Stratton wants to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit to fight child poverty, and to cut taxes for the middle class by raising taxes on income over $1 million a year.
Stratton: campaign platform; Capitol New Illinois, 10/1/25; Juliana Stratton, accessed 8/13/2026; WTTW 2026 primary voters guide questionnaire, accessed 8/12/2026; Campaign platform; OnTheIssues; WTTW, accessed 9/15/2026; Capitol News Illinois, 10/1/2025.
Don Tracy
Tracy’s campaign blames Illinois state taxes for the squeeze on families — and at a February debate he called the federal cuts to food assistance “long overdue,” saying there are “too many able-bodied Americans out of the labor force living off of welfare.”
Tracy has offered no proposal to police what corporations charge. He locates the problem in state taxes rather than in the prices companies are setting.
Tracy has not proposed expanding the Child Tax Credit or the Earned Income Tax Credit for working families; his tax message centers on attacking Illinois state taxes.
JOBS & WAGES
Juliana Stratton
Stratton worked alongside Gov. Pritzker to “ensure workers are paid fairly,” and celebrated voters’ passage of the Workers’ Rights Amendment, which locked the freedom to bargain for better pay into Illinois’ constitution and blocks right-to-work. In the Illinois House, she voted to crack down on wage theft, barring businesses that cheat workers out of pay from state contracts for five years. As lieutenant governor, she championed the Paid Leave for All Workers Act, guaranteeing Illinois workers paid time off for any reason.
Stratton: campaign platform; Illinois General Assembly, SB 81; SB 1720; SJRCA 11; Office of Governor JB Pritzker, 12/27/2023.
Don Tracy
Tracy has spent his career representing corporate and business interests, not workers. Tracy also publicly opposed Illinois’ 2022 Workers’ Rights Amendment, which enshrined a constitutional right to collective bargaining. He argued the measure was being sold to voters as a workers’ rights initiative when it was actually, in his words, “a disguised tax referendum, a Trojan horse,” and claimed it would add costs to families. He also dismissed the worth of disabled workers’ labor, saying “some of these people cannot produce anywhere near the value of the minimum wage.”
Health Care
Juliana Stratton
Stratton opposed federal cuts that will result in the loss of health coverage for 10 million Americans, including over 485,000 people in Illinois. That legislation also limits Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower prescription drug prices.
Stratton: “Lt. Gov. Stratton hosts roundtable to discuss rural healthcare needs,” 11/5/25, TheSouthern.com; “Illinois leaders slam Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ for deep Medicaid and SNAP cuts,” 7/4/25, ChicagoDefender.com.
Don Tracy
Tracy expressed support for legislation that will kick over 485,000 people in Illinois off their health insurance and put rural hospitals at risk.
Tracy: “Stratton, Tracy weigh in on Trump, healthcare and more”, 9/17/26, bnd.com; Tracy’s campaign website.