AURORA – Recently re-elected Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin could be the next candidate to throw his hat into the GOP gubernatorial primary … and while numerous sources are saying they're confident it's true, no one will go one record.
The reason an Irvin entry could be significant is that Irvin, a black former prosecuting attorney, is that he's being pushed into the 2022 bid by Citadel LLC billionaire Ken Griffin – and former Governor Bruce Rauner consultants.
"It's true, but I've been sworn to secrecy," one GOP activist told Illinois Review. "I've spoken to several others that have said the same thing."
There's no huge donations turning up yet under Irvin's name in the Illinois State Board of Elections – but that doesn't mean much – yet.
Irvin's name has been circulating for months – with mentions in the Chicago Tribune and on the Illinois Channel. Most recently, the rumor came up again in Patrick Pfingsten's Illinoize subscription column. Pfingsten writes that someone did a poll over the weekend mentioning Irvin's name.
Irvin is an Aurora native, an Army veteran, served in the Desert Storm battle and was elected to the Aurora City Council before being elected mayor for the first time in 2017. He obtained his law degree from Northern Illinois University.
While Irvin is often considered Republican, his voting record shows he's pulled Democrat primary ballots more than GOP ballots over the last five or six elections.
He has endorsed liberal immigration policies as mayor of the state's second largest city.
Other GOP gubernatorial hopefuls in the June 2022 primary includes State Senator Darren Bailey of Xenia, former State Senator Paul Schimpf, businessman Gary Rabine, attorney Max Solomon and entrepreneur Jesse Sullivan.
