GOP Candidates Take Shots at Irvin, But Few Appear to Stick
Businessman Gary Rabine attacks Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin over his tax record during a GOP gubernatorial debate Thursday at ABC-7 in Chicago (WLS Screen Grab)
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Richard Irvin, the Aurora Mayor and presumed frontrunner in the GOP gubernatorial race, dodged attack after attack from competitors in the June 28 primary Thursday night in the first televised debate featuring all six Republican candidates.
The debate, hosted by Chicago TV station WLS, focused on numerous key issues, including mass shootings, school safety, crime, taxes, pandemic response, abortion, and bipartisan cooperation.
Many of the candidates used the opportunity to go on offense against Irvin, who has often dodged difficult issues throughout his campaign. Irvin once again refused to lay out his plans if Roe vs. Wade is overturned, even after being pressed multiple times by other candidates. Instead, Irvin often pivoted to his opposition to the legislature’s repeal of the Parental Notification of Abortion law last year.
Venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan, who participated remotely after testing positive for COVID-19, was the first to go on the attack of Irvin, citing the Aurora mayor’s previous support of the “Black Lives Matter” movement. Irvin has now distanced himself from those comments, using the “all lives matter” narrative in his gubernatorial campaign.
In one of the most tense moments of the hour long debate, Bailey criticized Irvin for his votes in 5 of the last 6 Democratic primaries and support of Governor JB Pritzker’s mask mandates.
”I’m not interested in defeating you just because you’re a Democrat,” Bailey said. “I’m interested in defeating you because you are a corrupt Democrat and your pay-to-play politics in the city of Aurora.”
“I won’t be lectured by someone like Darren Bailey,” Irvin responded curtly.
And after Irvin used a question about working with Democratic majorities in Springfield, he discussed having the “resources” to help more Republicans win legislative seats, a nod to the $50 million his campaign has received from Ken Griffin, Illinois’ richest person.
Former Sen. Paul Schimpf, who has lagged in polls and fundraising, but earned the Chicago Tribune endorsement last week, said Irvin is tearing apart Republicans.
“I’m glad you have those resources. I just wish you were using them to unify our party, rather than divide our party right now,” Schimpf said. “We can work with Democrats because there is a lot that unites us.”
Irvin scoffed at most of the attacks and denied others, but said his opponents were “threatened” that he was in the way of their political ambitions. Recent polling has suggested Irvin holds a narrow lead over Bailey, who has been receiving funding from billionaire conservative Richard Uihlein.
It isn’t clear if the candidates will appear on stage together again before the June 28 primary.
