The GOP congressional primary between U.S. Rep. Mike Bost and former gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey represents a test of southern Illinois’ conservative makeup.
On the campaign trail and in interviews, the two candidates focus much of their time discussing national issues. Both have directed lots of attention to the U.S.-Mexico border.
“No. 1 priority is closing our border and making sure that we are secure with the millions of people who have come undocumented into our country,” Bailey said.
Loading...
Bost said of the border: “That is the biggest issue right now — as it should be.”
On local issues, the two have comparable but diverging paths to advancing the interests of constituents of Illinois and the 12th Congressional District, which stretches from Metro East towns like O’Fallon and Shiloh to the southernmost tip of the state near the Kentucky and Missouri borders.
For example, the candidates agree that agriculture and military issues are some of the most pressing for southern Illinois.
Scott Air Force Base is the biggest employer in the district. Because of Scott, the 12th is home to more than 52,000 veterans, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That makes up 8.91% of the district’s population 18 and older — the most of any Illinois congressional district.
Agriculture, the candidates said, is the second-largest industry in the district and key to their candidacies.
What are Bost's local issues?
A fundamental campaign pitch for Bost to constituents is his chairmanship of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
The Marine veteran said he’d like to continue the committee’s oversight on issues like sexual harassment within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Recently, House Republicans accused Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough of ignoring claims of sexual harassment and employee intimidation, the Military Times reported.
The committee will also need to work out details of the PACT Act, Bost said. Congress passed the health care legislation in August 2022 that spends nearly $800 billion for veterans exposed to toxic substances in the military. Skyrocketing demand for benefits has left the Department of Veterans Affairs swamped.
Also, while military housing is not an issue that is controlled by the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Bost said he supports increasing the Basic Housing Allowance military members receive from the Department of Defense to buy or rent while in service.
Previously, the allowance covered 100% of troops' projected housing costs. However, that funding level dropped to 95% since 2015. Enlisted military members said an increase would go a long way in helping them afford adequate housing in the current real estate market.
With military recruitment on the decline, paying military members more is a must, Bost said.
“It still boils down to if the private sector is going to pay more money, you're going to be down on recruitment,” Bost said.
The five-term congressman also serves on the House Agriculture Committee and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Bost said Congress needs to pass a new Farm Bill. In November, the House and Senate extended the old one until September 2025. It was supposed to expire at the end of 2023.
Bost said he’d like Congress to expand the program — dubbed Title One — that sends crop support payments to farmers during rough years.
Some farmers have said reference prices, the amount that triggers payments under Title One, are far too low. Other agricultural economists have said it’s a waste and doesn’t make a big difference for farmers’ bottom lines.
Bost would also like to move a migrant work program for the agricultural industry from under the oversight of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The H-2A visa program allows migrant workers to travel to the U.S. for temporary work. Over the years, it’s become more popular in the U.S., as farmers and industrial agriculture struggle to find local employees.
The move to the USDA would lighten the load for DHS, Bost said, and would better prepare the program to work on a timeframe for specific crops.
“We’d have the law set up so it works with industry,” Bost said.
And as part of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Bost said he’d like to use money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, which he voted against, to widen and modernize various locks and levees of the Mississippi River north of Alton.
The locks in his district are wide enough to allow barges to pass through without breaking the massive ships apart, he said. However, the locks farther north slow down supply chains and the movement of valuable freight because they're smaller and older.
“This would modernize them for faster transportation and greater payload to be moved the lock at any given time,” Bost said.
What are Bailey's local issues?
Bailey said the economy and public safety are his top priorities.
“The biggest driving factor for those right now is illegal immigration,” Bailey said.
Recent polling has shown that immigration and the southern border has become an increasingly importantissue for many voters — especially Republicans.
If elected, Bailey said he’d like to serve on the Agriculture Committee, Education and Workforce Committee and Energy and Commerce Committee.
He served on roughly the same committees during his time in Springfield as a state representative from 2019 to 2021 and state senator from 2021 to 2023.
The Clay County farmer said he’d be a natural fit on the Agriculture Committee. Asked about specific priorities for the Farm Bill or other agricultural initiatives, he said he’d like to start with education and advocacy. Specifically, he thinks more people should know that farmers don’t just work for federal subsidies.
“A lot of people think that, for instance, farmers farm for government payments,” Bailey said. “That’s simply not true.”
About 82% of the Farm Bill allocates money for nutrition programs — mainly for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to the Congressional Research Service. SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, provides government funding for lower-income households to buy food.
In some GOP circles — which include key Bailey endorser Illinois U.S. Rep. Mary Miller — lawmakers want to make it harder for Americans to receive SNAP benefits. They argue that increasing the maximum age for work requirements could help raise Americans out of poverty.
“Expecting able-bodied individuals to work isn't just reasonable — it's essential,” Bailey said. “While we need to extend a hand to those in need, we also owe it to our citizens to ensure that every dollar is spent with precision and prudence.”
No one should go hungry in this country, he said. However, he said he’s always looking for a place to make cuts in the budget because there’s waste everywhere in government. He would also like to avoid creating new programs.
“We don't have to grow government and hire more people,” Bailey said.
He said he feels the Energy Committee would be another logical choice for the district because of its ties to oil drilling and coal processing. Bailey is critical of the direction that the Illinois legislature and Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration have taken the state regarding energy. In 2021, the legislature passed and Pritzker signed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which will require the state to be 100% carbon free by 2045.
He said he’d like to explore legislation that opens up exporting coal from southern Illinois to foreign countries and increased fracking for oil.
“It’s common sense stuff: We have to have oil,” Bailey said. “We have to have reliable energy.”
The Education Committee is also something he’s passionate about after serving on his local school board in Louisville, Illinois, before entering the state legislature.
While he doesn’t want to serve on the Veterans’ Affairs or Armed Services committees, Bailey said he wouldn’t have supported the National Defense Authorization Act in December 2021 that required military members to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
One year later, the omnibus spending bill dropped the vaccine mandate. At the time, the requirement forced more than 8,400 troops out of the military, according to the Associated Press.
That contributed to the military’s recruiting downturn, Bailey said.
“I see a massive failure there,” he said.
Trump endorsement of Bost
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Bost over Bailey in February, saying Bost had represented the people of southern Illinois well.
“While I like and respect Darren Bailey, and was proud to campaign for him in 2022, Mike Bost was one of the first House committee chairmen to endorse my campaign, and Mike was a stalwart supporter of our America First agenda during my record-setting administration,” Trump posted on his social media platform.
In response to the endorsement, Bost said he’d do what he could to get Trump back in the White House.
“It’s not the news that Darren Bailey wanted to receive,” John Shaw, a political science professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale told the Belleville News-Democrat. “I’m reluctant to say it’s the ballgame.”
Bailey equated the endorsement to a farmer needing rain in a drought.
“The crops might not be as good as they could have been, but I got to work a little harder and make it up somewhere,” he said.
Trump’s endorsement is not the only factor that makes Bailey an underdog in this race. Bost holds a comfortable fundraising and spending advantage.
The latest reports from the Federal Elections Commission show Bost has nearly a 6-1 advantage in fundraising and more than 4-1 advantage in spending, according to data released at the end of 2023.
Early voting began on Feb. 8, and in-person voting is March 19.
