By DOUG E. IBENDAHL • May 26, 2022
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If you’ve voted in Republican primaries in Illinois in the recent past and you haven’t moved in a while, no doubt your mailbox has been getting stuffed for weeks with some really nasty political mailers from the gubernatorial campaign of Richard Irvin.
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Irvin is of course one of the 6 candidates seeking the GOP nomination for governor. The mailers I’ve received so far have focused their attacks on just two of Irvin’s Republican challengers, Darren Bailey and Jesse Sullivan.
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But no doubt Irvin would be attacking the other 3 candidates too if polling showed any of them within striking distance of Irvin.
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Irvin’s attack pieces are as juvenile as they are dishonest. In cheap cartoonish fashion they typically show Bailey and Sullivan in some ridiculous outfit and pictured with Democrats such as Mike Madigan, Barack Obama and/or Joe Biden.
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Irvin is spending millions flat out lying to Republican voters and trying to convince them that Bailey and Sullivan are Democrats in disguise.
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Irvin’s handlers are largely the same handlers failed governor Bruce Rauner had. They’re running the same sham today that they ran against Republican Jeanne Ives during the 2018 GOP Primary. In other words, spend millions of dollars smearing as a Democrat shill any principled Republican who gets in the way.
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Richard Irvin’s camp figures it “worked” before, so why not do it again? Irvin’s campaign obviously believes Republican voters in Illinois are a bunch of gullible rubes.
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It’s all insulting beyond belief.
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While Jesse Sullivan is new on the Illinois political scene, no honest person can seriously doubt that his conservative views on issues like faith, family, crime and abortion are legitimately held.
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Jesse Sullivan would definitely not be welcome by the wokesters who control today’s Democratic Party.
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And then there’s Darren Bailey. This man is so far right that suffice to say this Southern Illinois farmer would probably make the late Phyllis Schlafly look weak by comparison on just about any Republican Platform issue.
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The Democrats wouldn’t let Bailey be dog catcher in their party.
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What makes this all the more loathsome is the fact the defamatory attacks on real Republicans are coming from Richard Irvin, a lifelong, hardcore Democrat.
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Let me repeat that. Richard Irvin is a Democrat. He’s not a “RINO” or a “moderate Republican” — he’s a Democrat.
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I’ve personally reviewed a certified copy of Irvin’s voting record from the clerk of Kane County, Irvin’s home county. It shows Irvin pulled a Democrat ballot in 5 of the last 6 primaries, including the 2 most recent, 2020 and 2021.
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And the record I have only goes back to 2014. I would be shocked if Irvin wasn’t in fact voting Democrat long before that.
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And it’s not just Irvin’s well-documented voting record in the primaries—which in Illinois is really the only time you officially have to declare your party allegiance. Irvin’s Democrat credentials are also bolstered by his leftist actions in the very recent past.
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Irvin has been a passionate supporter of BLM and proudly attended BLM rallies. And in June of 2019 he crowed about joining “with Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot in prohibiting the use of [City of Aurora] resources to aid or support ICE in its enforcement activities.”
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And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Yes, Irvin has been changing his tune on some issues of late, but that’s only because his handlers are telling him he needs to say certain things to con the Republican base and get through the primary.
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There’s absolutely no evidence that Richard Irvin has truly had a change of heart. This isn’t a Ronald Reagan situation where the Gipper had been a Democrat for decades but woke up one day, became a Republican, and famously declared: “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me.”
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No, this is a very different situation. This is a proven liar, a man even willing to smear principled conservatives as Democrats – when he himself is a lifelong Democrat. Accusing others of what he himself is guilty of—I believe that’s taken from page 1 of the leftist Democrat playbook.
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But finally, here’s an even more crucial reason why Trump supporters need to step-up in this primary. Irvin isn’t just a Democrat—he’s a Trump hater.
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For months Irvin has repeatedly refused to say if he ever voted for Donald Trump. We know he didn’t vote for ANY Republican in the 2016 or 2020 primaries because he pulled a Democrat ballot both times.
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But I think it’s pretty safe to assume he also never voted for Trump in either of the general elections. Because again, Irvin hates Trump. We know this because Irvin said so himself in a text message in 2018.
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In addition to: “And I hate Trump too!” and “He’s an idiot!!!”, Irvin also texted that Trump was “a bigoted racist.”
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And keep in mind, this wasn’t just some heated rhetoric fired off during a primary by someone supporting another Republican candidate in a primary. These insults were texted by Irvin in February of 2018, when the Trump economy was well on its way creating record new jobs and opportunity for ALL Americans, of all races and creeds.
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Irvin doesn’t even try to deny sending those texts. He can’t. The news outlet which broke the story has independent confirmation from the party Irvin was texting with.
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All Irvin would say was that he “didn’t remember” sending the texts. But that strikes me as just yet another lie. In any case, we know with certainty he texted those rotten insults.
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There are 5 other candidates in this race. They all strike me as decent men—or at least they aren’t out there smearing principled Republicans with crazy lies like Irvin is doing. It would be nice if they could all unite together around 1 to stop Irvin. That could still happen, but I’ll be pleasantly surprised if it does.
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Can any Republican beat Democrat incumbent JB Pritzker in November? Honestly, it will be tough. I don’t think any of the 5 true Republican candidates, despite their good intentions, are really doing what they need to do to win in November—of course it’s not too late. Plus, the Illinois Republican Party remains in the same ditch it’s been in for years. It’s a state party that’s really not organized to win elections and that creates an additional hurdle for any Republican running statewide in this state.
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But from what I can see, most of the old players who put the Illinois GOP in the ditch are in the Irvin camp. The richest man in Illinois, Ken Griffin, has a personal grudge against Pritzker and the GOP old guard is taking advantage of that to suck millions ($45 million so far) for a last desperate shot at GOP relevance in Illinois.
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But to what end? Even if lightning would strike in Illinois with the help of a national tide crashing against all of the Democrat incompetence currently on display at both the national and state level, what do we gain if the GOP standard bearer is a serial lying, Trump-hating Democrat?
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In what sense is that “winning” for the working men and women of Illinois?
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But I would go so far as to say Richard Irvin is the most likely to lose against Pritzker. Even if somehow Irvin squeaks by in the primary, how do you then go to decent Republicans (who will eventually figure out they’ve been conned, again) and ask them to support a lying character assassin? Many are just going to sit the race out. And faced with a choice of 2 Democrats in the general election, Democrats are just going to stick with the Democrat who is at least honest enough to keep a D by his name.
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This is the Bruce Rauner debacle all over again.
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So, to my fellow Trump supporters, I say it’s up to you. The old GOP players have failed us. Illinois missed the Reagan Revolution and we missed the Trump Revolution. Consider the fact that for all four years of the Trump presidency the state GOP’s website never even featured President Trump on its front page!
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If you want to be with the people who wouldn’t stand-up for the one Republican official who worked his ass off and actually knew how to get things done, who actually kept all of his promises, and a man who took all of the slings-and-arrows while he was fighting for US, then vote for Richard Irvin.
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Anyone who still doesn’t appreciate Donald Trump and all of the good work he did for us belongs in the camp of the lying, Trump-hating Democrat.
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But needless to say, on June 28th I’ll be going a different way. I’ll be voting for one of the other 5 candidates for governor. There are still a few weeks to go. Let’s watch and see who is really the most deserving standard bearer from amongst the 5 actual Republicans.
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Doug Ibendahl is a Chicago Attorney and a former General Counsel of the Illinois Republican Party.
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