Richard Irvin Doesn't Appear to Be Up to the Challenge
GOP gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin speaks at a news conference Monday in Aurora. (Photo: Chicago Sun-Times)
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OPINION
His campaign team (which hasn’t responded to me since Valentine’s Day, by the way) may not agree, and I’ve been tough on him, but I don’t have a problem with Richard Irvin. On paper, there are really great things about his potential candidacy for governor.
He’s a veteran with executive experience in the second largest city in the state, and he’s not lily white, like so much of the GOP appears to be publicly. He has a good biographical story and a moderate, African American suburbanite would be a completely unexpected and unpredictable challenge for Democrat Governor JB Pritzker in the fall.
But to win a Republican primary, it often helps to be an actual Republican. We can, and probably will, have a a discussion about what an actual Republican is these days, but let’s assume I’m talking about a pro-business, low tax, generally conservative Republican. We’ve discussed more than once that Irvin voted in five of the past six Democratic primaries.
With what many assume to be the Trump aberration aside, Illinois Republican primary voters typically read through the imposters. Bruce Rauner grossly outspent opponents and was still almost beaten in a primary twice. Andy McKenna lost for Governor in 2010 and U.S. Senate in 2004. And where do you even start with the statewide travails of Jim Oberweis?
That’s not to say primary voters always pick the most conservative voice, either. Mark Kirk was far too liberal for some Republicans in 2010 and 2016. Judy Baar Topinka dealt with purity testers her entire time in statewide politics.
For Republicans to beat Pritzker in November, they need a candidate who has a grasp of the issues, a plan that relates to a wide swath of voters, can raise money, and, most of all, has an ability to govern or even an interest in governing.
Irvin may be a great mayor. Obviously, you can take property tax levies and crime statistics and building permits and massage them into your message all you want. But being a mayor, even of a city of 200,000, and being governor of a state of 12.7 million people are immeasurably different jobs.
Watching Irvin try to read from a script on the LaSalle Veterans’ Home yesterday was like watching an example of a beginner in a campaign school. Irvin stumbled on the script repeatedly, didn’t look prepared on the issue at hand, and then seemed to have no idea at the questions that were coming his way once he opened it up to media. Did you not expect this? He was defensive, obfuscating, and refused to answer the questions at hand. Obviously, Chicago media are going to be highlighting the most sensational story they can find, even if it has little to do with actual Illinois law.
It’s not like there are great options for Republicans. Darren Bailey is too extreme to win in November, Jesse Sullivan is untested, and Gary Rabine seems to be enjoying himself but has seemingly understanding of policy. With the exception of $45 million from billionaire Ken Griffin, Irvin seems to be facing many of those same issues.
Republicans have had their chances over the years. They passed on Sen. Kirk Dillard, who would likely have been a serious, competent, electable governor, twice. They weren’t fully behind Topinka, who could have saved us from much of the disaster of the Blagojevich years. They went with Rauner, the unqualified guy with the expensive TV ads, in 2014, and we saw the kind of disaster he was.
Which one of these will Irvin be?
So far, I can’t say I’m incredibly hopeful.