Irvin News Conference Becomes Battle with Media over Abortion, Attacks
Richard Irvin, Republican candidate for governor, speaks at his headquarters in Aurora Monday. Looking on is Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville), his running mate for Lt. Governor. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
In what his team had hoped would become the first overture of a key criticism of Democratic Governor JB Pritzker in the fall election, Aurora Mayor and GOP gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin found himself playing defense on questions of abortion and the tone of his campaign.
In Irvin’s first public comments since filing to run for Governor in March, he hosted a news conference in Aurora Monday with his running mate, Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville), Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris), and Rep. David Welter (R-Morris). Rezin and Welter have been leading critics of the Pritzker administration response to a COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home in 2020 that killed 36 residents.
Irvin and his legislative supporters hoped to bring more attention to an Auditor General report last week that showed the Pritzker administration was slow to act when the outbreak occurred. Irvin is attempting to capitalize on the political consequences of the reaction in a similar way JB Pritzker attacked then-Gov. Bruce Rauner over a Legionnaires’ outbreak at the Quincy Veterans’ Home in 2015.
But Irvin’s LaSalle comments lasted under four minutes, and when he returned to the microphone to take questions from Chicago reporters, LaSalle was not the topic of discussion.
Irvin was immediately asked about last week’s leaked preliminary draft of a ruling that may overturn the nearly 50-year-old Roe vs. Wade abortion case. When he attempted to deflect the question, he was interrupted by a reporter. He tried again to deflect the question, he was asked about whether there should be a federal law to ban abortion. Irvin is running for Governor, you know, who has no impact on a federal law, but I digress.
“Hold on one second, hold on,” he repeatedly attempted to finish his talking points as reporters continued to rapid fire questions. “Let me finish, let me finish, let me finish.”
Irvin attempted to pivot to criticize Pritzker for signing a bill into law repealing the state’s parental notification of abortion law.
To be fair, Irvin has stated he is pro-life with exceptions for rape, incest, and the health and life of the mother. If he’s elected Governor, the position would be in line with Republicans elected governor before him. George Ryan supported abortion to protect the life of a mother while both Jim Thompson and Jim Edgar were more pro-choice. Additionally, the legislature has codified abortion in state law, meaning abortion would remain legal in the state even if Roe is overturned.
Irvin also attempted to pivot away from criticisms of his record as a Republican, a conservative, and a mayor. Irvin has voted in 5 of the past 6 Democratic primaries.
“I’ll define my own record,” he said. “My record [is] as a veteran of the United States Army who served during a time of war. My record is a former prosecutor who put criminals behind bars and worked with police to keep our communities safe. My record [is] the mayor of the second largest city in our state with a proven record of reducing taxes and bringing in businesses and residents and getting things done.”
Chicago media members were particularly focused on the abortion issue, which Irvin has declined to address since last week’s Supreme Court leak.
When asked about the blatantly false advertising attacks his campaign has aimed in his attacks on fellow Republicans Darren Bailey and Jesse Sullivan, Irvin again attempted to deflect, claiming the issues were “the ones JB Pritzker wants to talk about.”
Irvin again attacked Bailey for votes on property tax levies for his local school board that increased the total amount brought in over the previous year. He also attacked downstate venture capitalist Sullivan for his civilian service in Afghanistan, claiming Sullivan “pretended” to be an active duty soldier. The Sullivan campaign responded to Irvin’s attacks in a new TV ad. The Irvin campaign has referred to Sullivan’s service in Afghanistan in 2011-2012 as that of a social worker.
In a statement, Sullivan’s campaign said he was “a Human Terrain Analyst under US Army TRADOC G2. The DOD describes his work as ‘an emergency essential position that ensures the success of combat operations,” and his “Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS) Performance Evaluation indicates he led fieldwork and intelligence collections on more than 68 dismounted patrols outside of the [base.]”
It was a combative and tense back and forth between Irvin and the Chicago media when it ended with Irvin abruptly walking off the stage over shouts of reporters.