The Democratic Governors Association launched an ad attacking GOP candidate Richard Irvin over his work as criminal defense attorney and questioning his tough-on-crime campaign theme.
The Democratic Governors Association is wading into the Republican primary race for governor with a TV ad campaign that launched Thursday attacking GOP candidate Richard Irvin over his work as criminal defense attorney and questioning his tough-on-crime campaign theme.
“Irvin has been getting rich by putting violent criminals back on our streets. Tell Richard to stop pretending to be tough on crime and start supporting policies that keep people safe,” the ad says.» Irvin backers said privately that they viewed the DGA’s effort as an attempt to weaken their candidate and enhance the chances of state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, who is running an evangelical right-wing populist campaign, in the June 28 Republican primary.
Irvin and Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, who backs the Aurora mayor’s gubernatorial campaign, each criticized Pritzker for signing comprehensive criminal justice reform legislation that they contend is anti-police and has fueled violent crime — even though many of that measure’s provisions, such as cashless bail for nonviolent offenders, have not yet gone into effect.
But neither the Irvin camp nor Durkin addressed the fact that the Aurora mayor, in a Feb. 22, 2021, letter congratulated a sponsor of the criminal justice legislation on its passage. In the letter, Irvin touted his city’s police department as having met or exceeded many of the bill’s provisions affecting law enforcement and that he “strongly supported” the bill’s goal to have “well-trained officers working hand in hand with community members” as the “only way to create a safe community.