Republican candidates for governor Richard Irvin and Jesse Sullivan launched television spots Tuesday that followed the party’s election-year strategy of using spikes in violent crime to attack Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s leadership.
Irvin’s ad was unveiled little more than a week after the Aurora mayor entered the GOP primary race, and the day after his campaign reported collecting more than $1.2 million in contributions of $1,000 or more — though none from an expected backer, Ken Griffin, co-founder of the Citadel investment firm and Illinois’ richest resident.
The spot focuses on a May 31, 2020, protest over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police that turned violent as rioters among a crowd of about 500 people looted stores and set a series of fires in Aurora’s downtown.
Irvin is shown at a mayoral news conference saying, “Aurora will be ready for you if you come to our community wreaking havoc. We will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. We will not put up with this BS and foolishness. This I guarantee.”
An announcer then says, “They tried to burn his city down. Richard Irvin took it back. Elect Irvin governor. We’ll take back our state.”
The announcer says Irvin called in “the Guard,” a reference to the National Guard. But the governor authorizes the use of the National Guard, not individual mayors who can only make a request for a call-up to the state’s chief executive.
The state Democratic Party issued a statement that sought to link Irvin to former one-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner by noting the candidate has yet to speak to reporters since announcing his candidacy.
“Clearly, Irvin and the rest of the Rauner Reboot slate think they can avoid accountability for their words as long as they can avoid talking to voters or reporters,” the Democratic Party statement said.
Former members of Rauner’s team are part of the group that has assembled a slate of statewide GOP candidates, headed by Irvin, with the aim of securing the financial support of Griffin in an attempt to match billionaire Pritzker’s spending ability.
Griffin was not on an initial list Irvin donors reported Monday, but other members of the state’s Republican business establishment were, including industrialist Craig Duchossois, who was among four $250,000 donors, along with former U.S. Ambassador Ronald Gidwitz and real estate mogul Sam Zell, who gave $100,000 apiece.
Industry reports show Irvin is paying more than $55,000 for one week of advertising on cable TV alone. Pritzker, who has regularly been airing ads featuring his handling of the pandemic and state finances, is spending nearly $80,000 for a week of cable advertising.
Sullivan, a businessman from Petersburg, is spending nearly $90,000 to air his latest commercial on cable TV for two weeks, industry reports show.
In his ad, Sullivan compares Chicago to Afghanistan, where he spent time as a civilian intelligence analyst.
“I know corrupt war zones torn apart by violence. But this isn’t Afghanistan. This is Chicago. Pritzker’s leftist agenda is literally killing us, turning parts of Illinois into a war zone,” Sullivan says.
Sullivan released the ad along with what he called his “safe streets” plan, which includes repealing elements of a new criminal justice law that have yet to take effect yet, such as the elimination of cash bail. Republicans have argued parts of the law have spurred outbreaks of violent crime.
Sullivan also has called for using the National Guard and State Police to help fill police vacancies across the state. He wants to increase pay for county sheriffs, provide better benefits to attract and retain people to law enforcement, and create a position for a statewide anti-violence director.
The Democratic-controlled General Assembly last year created a $152,983-per-year assistant secretary of firearm violence prevention under the state’s Department of Human Services. The position was created as part of a plan, championed by Pritzker, to “reimagine public safety” through a holistic-based violence prevention initiative.
