Richard Irvin, Republican candidate for Illinois governor

Name: Richard Irvin

Political party (if applicable): Republican

Age as of June 28, 2022: 52

Campaign website or social media page: www.irvinbourne.com

Office seeking: Governor

Are you an incumbent?: No

Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought): Yes, I’ve been elected Republican Precinct Committeeman, Alderman and now Mayor

Occupation: Mayor

Education: Robert Morris College, Northern Illinois University College of Law

Please list highlights of your civic involvement. I served as Aurora’s first community prosecutor, where I worked directly with members of the community to combat crime and improve quality of life. I was elected an at-large Alderman for the City of Aurora in 2007 and served for 10 years until 2017, when I was elected the first African-American Mayor of Aurora.

Who are your top three campaign contributors? We have three main contributors to our campaign to take back our state: people who tell us we have their vote, people who volunteer to put up signs or make phone calls to get our message out, and people who contribute financially to help us fight back against the millions of dollars J.B. Pritkzer and his Democratic allies are spending on false TV ads attacking us. I’m proud to count Troopers Lodge #41, the Illinois FOP Labor Council, the Chicago FOP, the Aurora police union, and countless law enforcement leaders around the state as supporters of our campaign. I’m also proud to be supported by former Congressman John Shimkus and many other conservative leaders around Illinois.

Why are you running? I’m a combat veteran who served our country in Desert Storm. I love America and I love Illinois. I’m a former prosecutor who put criminals behind bars and worked side by side with the police to stop crime in our community. And I’m the mayor of Illinois’ second largest city with a proven record of cutting wasteful spending, balancing budgets, fighting for property tax relief, creating new jobs, and opening new businesses.

Under J.B. Pritzker, crime is out of control, taxes and spending are out of control, corruption is out of control, and people and businesses are leaving in droves. We need to take back our state, and that’s why I’m running for governor.

As governor, I’ll be tough on crime and criminals. I’ll cut wasteful spending to balance the budget. I’ll push for tax cuts, not Pritzker tax hikes. I’ll take on the Madigan-Pritzker corruption. I’ll create new jobs and open new businesses.

What is the top issue in your race, and how would you address it? There are three top issues in this race: out-of-control crime, skyrocketing taxes and widespread Madigan-Pritzker corruption.

To combat crime, we need to elect a governor who has a record of fighting crime – who will repeal the anti-police, pro-criminal policies enacted by J.B. Pritzker and who will stand up for our law enforcement across the state. That’s why I’m proud to have the endorsement of so many law enforcement leaders and groups, including Troopers Lodge #41, the Illinois FOP Labor Council, the Chicago FOP, and the Aurora police union.

To lower taxes, we need to elect a governor with a proven record of cutting spending, consolidating government and lowering taxes. As governor, I’ll work to cut income taxes permanently – and lower property taxes just like we did in Aurora every year I’ve been mayor.

And to root out Madigan corruption, we need a governor who has a proven record of defeating the Madigan criminal enterprise. That’s exactly what I did when I ran for mayor of Aurora and defeated Madigan’s hand-picked candidate. I’m the only Republican running for governor who has taken on Madigan and won.

Why should people vote for you over another candidate? I’m the only true conservative with a proven record of cutting spending, lowering property taxes, fighting crime and defeating the Madigan criminal enterprise. Ask yourself this question: Why would J.B. Pritzker and his liberal allies meddle in the Republican primary and run negative attack ads against one and only one candidate (me)? Because he’s running scared of someone who looks like me who’s willing to stand up and say Back the Blue and All Lives Matter. He knows we’ll win in November and take back our state.

I’m the great-grandson of a slave who was freed by Abraham Lincoln; a combat veteran who served our country in Desert Storm; a former prosecutor who put criminals behind bars and worked side by side with the police to stop crime in our community; and the mayor of Illinois’ second-largest city with a proven record of cutting wasteful spending, balancing budgets, fighting for property tax relief, creating new jobs, and opening new businesses. I want to put parents in control of their kids’ education and health.

Under J.B. Pritzker, crime, taxes, and corruption are out of control. People and businesses are leaving. As governor, I’ll be tough on crime and criminals. I’ll cut wasteful spending to balance the budget. I’ll push for tax cuts, not Pritzker tax hikes. I’ll take on the Madigan-Pritzker corruption. I’ll create new jobs and open new businesses.

Crime has exploded on J.B. Pritzker’s watch. Every day there’s violent crime, but Pritzker opposes prosecuting violent criminals. He sides with criminals over communities. He sides with criminals over police. We need to take our state back. As a prosecutor, I put criminals behind bars — including gangsters, drug dealers, and wife beaters. I was hands-on, going on raids into drug houses. As Mayor, we defeated the local Defund the Police movement. We stood with law enforcement and hired more cops. As Governor, I’ll be tough on crime and criminals. That’s why I’m endorsed by Troopers Lodge #41, the Illinois FOP Labor Council, the Chicago FOP, the Aurora police union and many law enforcement leaders throughout the state.

J.B. Pritzker is the tax-hiker-in-chief of Illinois. He’s passed billions of dollars in new taxes. He spent his own money campaigning to impose the largest income tax hike in Illinois history. And he’s still pushing higher taxes today. We need to take our state back. As Mayor of Aurora, we stopped tax hikes and sparked economic growth. We cut wasteful spending, made government more efficient and lowered property taxes every year. As governor, I’ll work to cut taxes and deliver property tax relief across the state.

J.B. Pritzker supported Mike Madigan with millions of dollars, hired his patronage workers and bailed out his cronies. Pritzker broke his promise on Fair Maps and signed the most gerrymandered map in Illinois history. We need to take our state back. I’m the only Republican candidate for Governor to take on Mike Madigan and win. I took on the Madigan Machine when I ran for Mayor. Other Republicans get steamrolled by Madigan and Springfield insiders; I’ve fought and won. I support term limits to get rid of Springfield career politicians in both parties. And I support Illinois Fair Maps to stop Springfield politicians from gerrymandering their districts. I want voters to choose their politicians – not politicians choosing their voters with unfair lines.

What specific policies would you pursue to help Illinoisans recover economically from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and deal with inflation? J.B. Pritzker supported the reckless spending in Washington that has fueled the highest inflation rates in 40 years. When COVID hit, he ordered family businesses to close without a plan to support them. Even worse, he raised taxes and continues to push the largest income tax hike in Illinois history. People in Illinois need real relief, not election-year gimmicks.

We should cut Illinois income taxes permanently and do everything we can to deliver property tax relief. Cutting income taxes and delivering property tax relief would be an enormous help amid inflation.

Republican candidates typically support reducing spending in Illinois. If you support reduced spending, how would you achieve it? Please be specific. If you would cut services, what services would you cut? Some candidates talk about cutting wasteful spending and promoting government consolidation to lower taxes. I’ve actually done it as mayor of our state’s second-largest city - and we’ve seen lower property taxes every year I’ve been mayor. In recent months, we learned that J.B. Pritzker approved millions of dollars for pet projects controlled by Mike Madigan’s cronies – and millions more for Springfield Democrat pork-barrel projects. Pritzker has actually increased spending by 20% since he’s been governor - and his latest budget continues to spend money we don’t have. If we get our spending under control and promote efficiency, economic development and local taxpayer empowerment, we can permanently cut income taxes for everyone in this state and deliver meaningful property tax relief. It starts with a bold vision like that – I’ve done it as mayor – we can absolutely do it for the state.

How would you achieve your policy goals if Democrats have a majority in the General Assembly? Would you work across the aisle? If so, how? If not, why not? Whether it’s fighting out-of-control crime, pushing for permanent income tax cuts and property tax relief, or rooting out Madigan corruption, Illinois needs a governor who has the courage to lead. J.B. Pritzker has failed to lead. I’ve been successful as mayor of the state’s second-largest city in lowering crime, cutting wasteful spending, delivering tax relief and spurring job creation by leading and effectively communicating, even when members of the city council disagreed with me.

Principled leadership in the governor’s office and effective communication will be critical as we fight crime, lower taxes and root out corruption in Illinois.

If you support doing so, what topics would you ban or limit in public education curricula and at what ages? How would you specifically go about doing that? I support local control of schools and doing whatever we can to empower parents to have more control over their kids’ education. I also support a constitutional amendment to give parents a path to recall local school board members.

Who did you vote for in the 2020 presidential election and why? I’m a Republican and I vote Republican in general elections. And in the 2022 gubernatorial election, we’re going to take our state back.

If you could set an abortion policy for Illinois, what would it prohibit or allow? Please be specific about instances where abortion would be allowed, i.e., in case the mother’s health is in jeopardy; rape/incest; etc. As I go around the state, I hear one thing more than anything: J.B. Pritzker’s decision to repeal parental notification was outrageous and we need to work across party lines to get parental notification reinstated. I couldn’t agree more. It’s appalling that our state would deny parents the right to be notified for any medical procedure, let alone an abortion.

What policies would you pursue to provide resources, if any, to parents who would struggle to care for a child? Between Pritzker’s COVID lockdowns, Pritzker’s tax increases and rising inflation thanks to Pritzker-supported policies in Washington, families are facing struggles in balancing jobs and child care. We need to ensure we are maximizing the effectiveness of resources already dedicated to early childhood education, child care and family-centered programs.

This story was originally published May 31, 2022 at 6:00 AM.