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State Week: Takeaways from the Illinois governor's debate

State Week logo (capitol dome)
Brian Mackey
/
NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS

Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker stood on the stage with Republican Illinois Senator Darren Bailey in the first televised debate between the two this election season. They strongly disagreed on many subjects. But did voters learn anything? We discuss what the candidates had to say and whether debates are still a useful method of finding out where politicians stand on key issues.

Our panel includes host Sean Crawford, Statehouse Editor Hannah Meisel, Professor Emeritus Charlie Wheeler and Dan Petrella, who covers state government for the Chicago Tribune.

The former director of the Public Affairs Reporting (PAR) graduate program is Professor Charles N. Wheeler III, a veteran newsman who came to the University of Illinois at Springfield following a 24-year career at the Chicago Sun-Times.
Hannah covers state government and politics for Capital News Illinois. She's been dedicated to the statehouse beat since interning at NPR Illinois in 2014, with subsequent stops at outlets including WILL-AM/FM, Law360, The Daily Line and a temporary stint at political blog Capitol Fax before returning to NPR Illinois in 2020 and moving to CNI in 2023.
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