By Illinois Review
Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker was in Aurora on Wednesday morning to attend the CyrusOne Data Center groundbreaking ceremony alongside Mayor Richard Irvin – who ran in the 2022 Republican gubernatorial primary – marking the first time the two officials have shared a stage together in several years.
The ceremony, which included representatives from ComEd as well as business leaders and local officials, commemorated the new 446,000 square foot campus that will serve local communities with national networks through state-of-the-art digital infrastructure solutions. The new center represents a $350 million investment and is expected to create 20 full-time positions and hundreds of construction jobs.
“When I became governor, I pledged to make Illinois a home for the high-tech, high-growth industries of the future,” said Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. “This groundbreaking is the culmination of years of work with our partners at CyrusOne, and secures hundreds of construction jobs as well as over twenty data center positions for the people of our state. CyrusOne’s new data center joins the ecosystem of high-tech sectors that are flourishing in Illinois– from electric vehicles to quantum computing to chip manufacturers – that form the foundation of sustainable economic growth.”
Irvin remains a darling among the Illinois Republican Party elite. During a downtown Chicago fundraiser in February 2023, former IL GOP chairman Don Tracy referred to Irvin as a party leader despite losing to the conservative grassroots candidate by 43 points and spending $50 million to finish in third place.
Prior to running for governor, Irvin spent years praising Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker, referring to him as a, “great friend and a great leader.” In 2020, Irvin spoke at a Black Lives Matter rally yelling, “I can’t breathe!” It was also discovered that he pulled Democratic primary ballots in 2014, 2016 and 2020 before running in the Republican primary in 2022.
It’s no secret in political circles that Irvin is eyeing a run for U.S. Senate in 2026. Whether he runs as a Republican or Democrat remains to be seen.
