Darren Bailey Corruption & Ethics Illinois

Darren Bailey Told the Tribune He Was Renting a Chicago Apartment. He Told Downstate Crowds a Doctor Donated It. He Won't Say Who, or What It's Worth.

Since the March primary, Darren Bailey has stayed in a downtown Chicago apartment he says 'a doctor' donated. Democrats say it isn't on any campaign report. Asked who owns it and what the rent is, he said, 'I don't care to disclose that.'

MAGA Report Cards · Oct 08, 2026

Darren Bailey Told the Tribune He Was Renting a Chicago Apartment. He Told Downstate Crowds a Doctor Donated It. He Won't Say Who, or What It's Worth. — Photo: Arthur Maiorella / Chicago Tribune

Since the day after he won the Republican primary for Illinois governor on March 17, 2026, Darren Bailey has been living in an apartment in downtown Chicago. He has told downstate supporters exactly how he got it.

"A doctor that's been gracious enough to donate his apartment for us to stay in the Grant Park area," Bailey said, according to a complaint filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections on October 5 and reported by the Chicago Tribune.

Back in April, Bailey told the Tribune something different. He said he was renting a South Loop apartment, as part of an effort "to simply earn the trust and, ultimately, the vote of the people there."

Renting and getting it donated are not the same thing. One costs you money. The other is a gift — and in Illinois, a gift to a candidate has to be reported.

What the law says

Illinois requires candidates to report "anything of value, knowingly received in connection with" their campaign. That includes in-kind contributions — donated services or property. Anything worth more than $1,000 has to be reported within five business days, or within two business days in the 30 days before an election.

The Illinois Democratic Party's complaint says average rent for a one-bedroom in that area is $2,965 a month. Bailey has been there since March. According to the complaint, his campaign hasn't reported any such donation — not on the reports required for big contributions, and not on its quarterly reports for the first half of the year.

The complaint leans on Bailey's own words. It says he moved in the day after the primary, described the apartment as a headquarters for his Chicago-area campaign, and uses it as a base for meeting voters. "He even bragged that building staff has asked for campaign 'cards and materials,'" it says.

"I don't care to disclose that"

So the Tribune asked the obvious questions. Is he paying rent? Who owns the apartment?

Bailey's campaign didn't answer. At a South Side event later that day, Bailey wouldn't answer directly either. He said there is "an agreement between us and the owner," whom he would not name, through the end of November. He said it would "all be settled up," either as a reported donation or by "us paying whatever."

Asked what the monthly rent is, Bailey said: "I don't care to disclose that."

His running mate, Aaron Del Mar, said a full accounting would happen once Bailey "vacates the property" — which, by Bailey's own timeline, is after the November 3 election.

That's the problem. Voters are supposed to know who is giving a candidate things of value before they vote, not after. A gift reported in December, from a donor nobody can name today, tells Illinois voters nothing about who is backing the man asking for their vote.

Not the first time

This isn't Bailey's first run-in with Illinois campaign law this year.

In May, his campaign admitted to the Tribune that it held a fundraiser in Joliet on May 22 — a day the legislature was in session. Illinois law bars candidates for state office from holding fundraisers on session days. That law is one Bailey voted for himself as a state senator in 2021. He faced no penalty, because the law doesn't say who enforces it.

And it isn't the first time his donors have raised questions. Bailey, who promises to crack down on crime, took $3,100 from a registered sex offender.

The Chicago he called a "hellhole"

There's a reason Bailey wants a Chicago address. He is running against Gov. JB Pritzker for the second time, and his strategy, he says, is to do better with voters in the suburbs and the city. In his 2022 campaign, he called Chicago a "hellhole."

Now he's living downtown, in a Grant Park-area apartment, for free or for a price he won't name, courtesy of someone he won't identify.

His campaign's response to the complaint: "Democrats and their allies have tried the campaign-finance complaint routine before. … They'll do anything to make this race about something other than (Gov. JB Pritzker's) record."

Because the election is so close, the State Board of Elections has to hold a hearing on the complaint before Election Day. If it finds Bailey broke the law, his campaign could face civil fines for each violation.

The facts, in short

Darren Bailey told the Chicago Tribune in April that he was renting a Chicago apartment, then told downstate supporters a doctor donated it. A one-bedroom in that area averages about $2,965 a month, and he has stayed there since March without reporting any donation, according to the Democrats' complaint. Asked who owns it and what the rent is, Bailey said, "I don't care to disclose that," and his running mate said the accounting would come after he moves out — after Election Day.