AURORA (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin’s pursuit of the Republican nomination for Illinois governor fell disappointedly short Tuesday night.
With only 89% of the votes counted, Irvin landed in 3rd place (15% of the vote) in the Illinois GOP Gubernatorial Primary, behind Jesse Sullivan (15.7%) and winner Illinois State Senator Darren Bailey (57.5%).
Irvin addressed supporters, saying he was proud of he and his team’s effort in the campaign.
“We may not have reached our goals tonight, but we are victorious for daring to step into the arena…As the great-grandson of a slave, and a kid who grew up in public housing, and the first in my family to go to college, I’m a winner just by being a strong competitor for governor of the great state of Illinois,” Irvin said.
A former prosecutor who was the first Black mayor of Illinois' second-largest city, he was seen as a top candidate when he joined the race, with financial backing from billionaire Ken Griffin. Irvin argued that he was the only GOP candidate who could beat Pritzker in November because he could win votes from Republicans, independents and some Democrats. But despite Griffin sinking $50 million into Irvin's campaign, he was damaged by repeated attacks from his rivals, including Pritzker.
Unlike the other GOP candidates, Irvin avoided talking about whether he voted for Trump. The mayor of Aurora instead focused on issues such as crime in Chicago and legislation signed by Pritzker that he said made policing harder. He said he opposes abortion except in cases of rape or incest or to protect the life of the mother.
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In his concession speech, Irvin criticized Pritzker’s “meddling” in the primary and wished Bailey well in the general election.
“Listen, I hope this governor is wrong in his assessment that he can easily defeat the opponent he paid tens of millions of dollars to face. But if this governor is correct and if he does easily prevail, we as citizens must rise up," Irvin said.
Irvin urged his followers to now muster support for Bailey.
The Associated Press contributed
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