Lieutenant governor candidate calls for grace

Published 11:38 am Saturday, July 25, 2026

QUINCY — “In politics, the enemy of today could be your best friend tomorrow. And I think that people hold on to too many grudges and are incredibly adversarial to each other.”

Aaron Del Mar, running for lieutenant governor as part of the Republican ticket led by Darren Bailey, cited “grace” as the ethical principle or character trait he would like to bring to Illinois, should he be elected.

This week Del Mar visited the offices of The Herald-Whig in downtown Quincy, and outlined his campaign themes and policy views.

As for his policy priorities, he listed affordability, public safety, and education.

He says there is a change in people who are attending political events. “Now it’s people that are looking for one thing: They’re looking for relief.”

“The cost associated with living in Illinois, no matter where you are in the state, is pushing people out and creating hardships,” he says.

The GOP candidate cited the grocery tax issue as a questionable element of Governor JB Pritzker’s record: “That tax was only collected by the state and then redistributed by local municipalities on a per capita head. When you remove the grocery tax, all it did is leave a hole in the budgets of local municipalities, forcing them to burden that and shift it up.”

In regard to the controversial SAFE-T Act, Del Mar says that he understands the broader motivations behind it—in particular because “we don’t want to have a debtor’s jail,” but feels that the terms of how the legislation was constructed have been problematic.

“The language of it left so much open to interpretation,” he explained. “I think it was bad legislation. Concept good, legislation bad, right? Two things can be right at the same time.”

Moving on to his third policy priority, Del Mar noted that “education is paramount to Illinois for multiple reasons. One is Darren and I firmly believe, regardless of your economic background, what your parents do for a living, or what zip code you came from, you should have access to a quality education.”

He stated that there was a greater need for trade schools in the state, to serve the needs of those young people not interested in attending college or university.

When asked about potential reductions in federal funding for Quincy Airport, Del Mar pivoted to a discussion of Governor Pritzker himself.

“When you have a governor who is running for two races at the same time, effectively—one for governor and one for President of the United States—it creates challenges,” he began. “I’m not saying that we have to capitulate on every issue… I would take an adverse position to some of the ICE enforcement, I’d take an adversarial position to some of the other federal funding that we’ve lost for grant dollars, food assistance, SNAP, SNAP funds, and so on and so forth. But I think a lot of that is also a political warfare.”

He continued, “You’re seeing that airport dollars in your situation here at Quincy may or may not be pulled back. I think that is a challenge that can be easily resolved by cooperating in certain aspects with the federal government, creating a better relationship.”

There were two issues about which Del Mar argued that his views, and those of gubernatorial candidate Bailey, have been misrepresented: pensions and abortion rights.

In regard to the former, he stated, “I want to make sure that you know and your readers know that Darren Bailey and I are not going to diminish their pension in any sort of matter whatsoever. It is ingrained in the Illinois Constitution, and it was a promise that was made. Regardless if it was made by a previous administration or ours, we’re going to inherit it.”

He noted that abortion rights are also enshrined in the state constitution, asserting that “84% of Illinoisans want access to safe, healthy women’s reproduction rights. And while we may not personally do that in our families, we’re not going to dictate that to other families.”

He does oppose, however, public funding or “making Illinois a mecca for people to come and, you know, have tourist abortions.”

Del Mar’s political career began as a city councilman at age 28, and continued through roles such as township chairman, highway commissioner, president of the fire board, and co-chairman of the Illinois GOP.

“Where I started and where I’m at now has molded me into the person that understands hard work, understands grit, understands public policy,” he says.

The Illinois gubernatorial election is set for Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Incumbent Democratic Governor Pritzker is seeking reelection alongside running mate Christian Mitchell.