(The Center Square) – Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker won reelection for a third term, beating his two-time GOP challenger Darren Bailey.

Multiple media reports called for Pritzker as soon as the polls closed at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Pritzker led Bailey by about 600,000 votes as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

At his campaign event at Navy Pier in Chicago, Pritzker said his opponent “ran hard and gave it his all,” and he believes both men love the state. He wished Bailey and his family well and called for more unity to resolve political disputes between the two.

“My time as governor has been grounded in a somewhat radical idea – nothing good can be built on the governing notion that the place you want to change is somehow fundamentally irreparable. Hope and fear are from the same family. Both demand you believe in a future you cannot see,” Pritzker said. “For eight years, I’ve asked you to join me, in hope. And I’d like to take a measure tonight of what hope, and hard work, has gotten us.”

The incumbent highlighted some of the policies and actions he has taken in his previous two terms – such as an increase in the state minimum wage and pushing back against President Donald Trump.

Bailey, a Trump endorsed candidate who attempted to both galvanize downstate and rural voters while also increasing his margin in and around the Chicagoland area, didn’t address attendees of his campaign event in Effingham County until about 9:30 p.m.

The GOP candidate expressed frustration that voters would choose another Pritzker administration, but said he doesn’t plan to go anywhere or give up his political aims.

Pritzker previously beat Bailey by more than 500,000 votes, or about 12.5% of the vote, in 2022.

Pritzker ended his remarks by asking a campaign slogan question, “Are you ready for the fight,” calling his election just the start of a fight “for what’s next.”

Pritzker will be the third governor of the state to serve more than two terms, and the only Democrat to do so. Illinois' governorship isn't term limited.

Pritzker has faced questions over many months about a potential presidential candidacy in two years. If Pritzker were to leave office during his next term, newly elected Lt. Gov. Christian Mitchell would succeed him.

Mitchell, a former state House representative and deputy governor, took over the role after Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton launched her campaign to succeed the retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

The new lieutenant governor highlighted the campaign's promises to make the state more affordable for its residents.

“An Illinois where every family can afford to live and thrive. An Illinois where your rights are protected and respected. And an Illinois where the circumstances of your birth determine only where you start and never not ever where you finish. And tonight, Illinois proved it,” Mitchell said.