Richard Irvin: 'Enough is a enough, we have to take our state back'

If you haven't noticed which Republican candidate for governor seems to be the most threatening to Gov. JB Pritzker, just watch some television, there will be a commercial pushing for another GOP hopeful paid for by a Democratic group that makes an obvious point.

That candidate who seems to be the target of those ads is Richard Irvin and he made a stop in Pontiac Saturday morning with State Sen. Jason Barickman hosting at Pontiac Family Restaurant.

“We've got a lot of red around Illinois but Illinois is run by Democrats, so, this is our guy, this is the opportunity we have,” Barickman said in making his introduction of Irvin to the audience in the banquet room. “The reason I'm supporting Richard, very clearly, I know that to effect change in Illinois, we have to fire JB Pritzker and this is the guy who gives us that chance.”

Irvin gave a speech on what he wants to do, as well an introduction of himself. He was born and raised in Aurora where he had a tough upbringing by a single mother in the projects. He said his grandfather was his father figure, which helped Irvin make the decision to join the Army. He is a veteran of the Gulf War and, after leaving the military, he used his GI Bill of Rights to go to college, and then to law school.

Eventually, Irvin became mayor of Aurora, which is now the second-largest populated city in the state. During his term as mayor, Irvin said he has brought pride back to that city and has been a strong supporter of the police and fire personnel, particularly when it came to shot mandates and rioting.

“They tried, they came to our town, they tried to burn down the downtown,” Irvin said of the rioting in 2020, which included an estimated 1,300 at Aurora. “Police officers were standing up strong. They tried to burn down our downtown but we didn't stand for it. I stood right there with those police officers and I said we're not going to allow folks to overtake our city and ruin what we've worked so hard to build. I stood by our police officers. … We're arresting the lawbreakers.”

Irvin also said that property taxes of gone down in his city every year since he became mayor. Also, crime has been reduced and new businesses have been developed.

“The same kind of businesses we need here in Pontiac,” he said.

Irvin spent a few moments with the Daily Leader before addressing the audience on hand at the breakfast gathering.

The first topic addressed was the prison situation. Irvin is familiar with what has been taking place but isn't happy with it.

“I know they've been closing down a couple of wings, which to me suggests eventually they're going to try to close the whole prison,” Irvin told The Leader. “To do that without talking to the community and recognizing how valuable those jobs are to the community, I think is wrong.

“This governor has done that — done executive orders and made decisions without including the other leaders. As next governor, I'll definitely give everybody a seat at the table and make sure we talk about things before we make decisions and insure that when jobs are getting taken away from a community, which they should never be, that I'm going to talk to people first before it happens.

“As governor, I'll make sure that we don't take away jobs, that we actually bring jobs to the city.”

Irvin is a northern Illinois native, so the question is how well can he play the state south of I-80. One of his tools is trying to grab votes in central and southern Illinois is State Rep. Avery Bourne, his lieutenant governor candidate. Bourne currently represents the 95th District, which is near the Metro-East region in the south-central part of the state.

“My philosophy is that if any part of our state is struggling, we all struggle,” Irvin said. “We're one Illinois. We've got to look out for Chicago and the suburbs as much as we have to focus on our central and southern portions of the state. As governor, I'm not going to forget about any portion of the state. All portions of the state are very important to our success and when we lift up the central and southern portions of the state, we can all progress as a state together.”

Darren Bailey is the primary candidate receiving help from the Democratic Governor's Association's advertising. The comments made about Bailey are frighteningly similar to what the DGA was saying about Jeanne Ives in the 2018 primary as she faced off against then-Gov. Bruce Rauner.

“I think it's clear that Gov. Pritzker is definitely scared of the Irvin-Bourne team; doesn't want us to be the ones he faces us in the General Election because he knows he'll lose,” Irvin said of the ads. “He'll compare my successes in the city of Aurora, as mayor of the second largest city in the state, and his failures as governor and he'll lose every time. He keeps spending money to tear me down and spending just as much money to lift Darren Bailey up because he knows if Darren gets to the General, (Pritzker) won't have a problem beating him.”

Irvin's history shows he can beat the odds, from his childhood development through becoming mayor of Aurora. He wants to use this experience at the state level as governor.

“I was elected as a Republican in a Democratic stronghold in Aurora,” Irvin said. “I've been working across the aisle my whole career … I don't have a problem working across the aisle and getting my point across so we can do the things necessary, the conservative things necessary — views and values — to move our state forward.

“But, I'm going to do something no other campaign has committed to do: I'm going to use my resources and our campaign, our infrastructure, our ground game, everything that we've got, not just to help me but to help Republicans up and down the ballot. We're going to be helping state senators get elected and re-elected, we're going to help state reps get elected and re-elected. We've got more contested offices this year than in the history of our state. We're going top make sure we get a Republican on the ballot and try to get out of the super-minority in both chambers, and make sure we get a seat at the table and a voice to actually have progress here in the state of Illinois.”

His agenda includes trying to reduce crime and taxes, as well as make Illinois an attractive state for business and families. He wants to “drain the swamp.”

“We're going to work to take our state back,” Irvin said. “Gov. Pritzker is acting like that the state is his, it's his power. I don't think that power belongs to him, I think it belongs to the residents of that state of Illinois. We're going to take that power away from JB Pritzker and give it back to the rightful owners — the residents of Illinois.

“I want to use my background, my experience as mayor of Aurora in reducing crime, reducing taxes, adding jobs, attracting residents and getting things done. I want to use the same abilities, the same background, those same successes as the governor of this state and we will once elected, and take JB Pritzker out in November.”

Among those attending the gathering Saturday included State Rep. Tom Bennett, former Rep. Tom Ewing, Sheriff Jeff Hamilton, Sheriff candidate Tom Vagasky and Livingston County Republican Chairman Kelly Kinate. State Sen. Jason Barickman served as host. The primary election is June 28. Early voting has already started.

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Richard Irvin: 'Enough is a enough, we have to take our state back'