Illinois Governor JB Pritzker posted on X that Republican challenger Darren Bailey lost their recent debate, while noting that early voting is open and that his administration has saved Illinois families over $600 million. The message, shared as part of the governor’s weekly JBrief, quickly drew replies from online users questioning both the debate outcome and the savings figure. Many responses pointed to tax and fee increases and raised doubts about the accuracy of the claims. The post comes amid the ongoing Illinois gubernatorial race.
The video shows Pritzker continuing, “Early voting is open in Illinois and election day is just around the corner,” before urging viewers to vote early or mail ballots in time for the November 3 election.
He states, “I’ve been focused on lowering costs for you. Last week I was proud to announce that we’ve saved Illinois families $600 million so far,” while contrasting the figure with federal policy. The footage does not include footage of the debate itself or independent verification of the savings total.
According to the post caption, Pritzker summarized the points as “Darren Bailey lost our debate. Early voting is open. And my administration has saved Illinois families over $600 million dollars.”
Separate state announcements from October 13 described the $600 million as preliminary totals from the Illinois Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit reaching roughly 950,000 families, with an average of about $1,460 for those claiming both. The video and post don’t explain how the figure compares with overall state tax and fee changes during Pritzker’s tenure.
How Viewers Are Responding to Pritzker’s Debate and Savings Claims
Some users challenged both claims at once, with one writing, “You lost the debate. And your admin has increased taxes & fees by $86 BILLION.”
Another stated, “You’ve raised taxes and fees over 60 times. Yet you claim you’re saving Illinois families money.” A third replied, “False on both counts. Liar, liar, pants on fire.”
Others focused specifically on the debate assessment. One user wrote, “If you have to tell us that ‘he lost’ the debate, then he didn’t. You did.”
Commenters also questioned the savings language, with responses such as “How much have you increased taxes and fees on families?” and “What are you smoking? You lost the debate and are costing Illinois families thousands more in taxes each year.”
The exchange adds another moment to the ongoing Illinois gubernatorial race, with early voting already underway and Election Day set for November 3. It remains to be seen how the debate performance and the savings claim factor into voters’ decisions.
