THE ILLINOIZE: Richard Irvin's no good, very bad day...Garman to retire from Supreme Court...Dan Brady...DCFS Director Speaks
May 10, 2022
Good morning, Illinois.
It is 49 days to the June 28 primary election. If you aren’t currently happy with your choices on the ballot, I’d like to introduce you to the newest candidate in the field:
Our Will, who is now 5 months old, chonky (as the kids would say), and healthy as a farm kid, was rocking this t-shirt yesterday before heading out on a walk with Grandma. I couldn’t help but snap a picture. Thanks to one of mom’s best friends, ace suburban photographer Alison McCarthy, for the swag.
Sadly, he’s not quite eligible for elective office, but he’d be happy to support policy ideas with big smiles and awkwardly petting the dog (also lots of food and very few naps). Though, even without a nap of substance yesterday, it was more than the substance GOP gubernatorial frontrunner Richard Irvin could present yesterday when peppered with questions from the Chicago media. More on that in a moment.
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Let’s get to it.
IRVIN NEWS CONFERENCE TURNS INTO 11-MINUTE DEFLECT-A-THON
In what his team had hoped would become the first overture of a key criticism of Democratic Governor JB Pritzker in the fall election, Aurora Mayor and GOP gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin found himself playing defense on questions of abortion and the tone of his campaign.
In Irvin’s first public comments since filing to run for Governor in March, he hosted a news conference in Aurora Monday with his running mate, Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville), Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris), and Rep. David Welter (R-Morris). Rezin and Welter have been leading critics of the Pritzker administration response to a COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home in 2020 that killed 36 residents.
Irvin and his legislative supporters hoped to bring more attention to an Auditor General report last week that showed the Pritzker administration was slow to act when the outbreak occurred. Irvin is attempting to capitalize on the political consequences of the reaction in a similar way JB Pritzker attacked then-Gov. Bruce Rauner over a Legionnaires’ outbreak at the Quincy Veterans’ Home in 2015.
But Irvin’s LaSalle comments lasted under four minutes, and when he returned to the microphone to take questions from Chicago reporters, LaSalle was not the topic of discussion.
Irvin was immediately asked about last week’s leaked preliminary draft of a ruling that may overturn the nearly 50-year-old Roe vs. Wade abortion case. When he attempted to deflect the question, he was interrupted by a reporter. He tried again to deflect the question, he was asked about whether there should be a federal law to ban abortion. Irvin is running for Governor, you know, who has no impact on a federal law, but I digress.
“Hold on one second, hold on,” he repeatedly attempted to finish his talking points as reporters continued to rapid fire questions. “Let me finish, let me finish, let me finish.”
Irvin attempted to pivot to criticize Pritzker for signing a bill into law repealing the state’s parental notification of abortion law.
To be fair, Irvin has stated he is pro-life with exceptions for rape, incest, and the health and life of the mother. If he’s elected Governor, the position would be in line with Republicans elected governor before him. George Ryan supported abortion to protect the life of a mother while both Jim Thompson and Jim Edgar were more pro-choice. Additionally, the legislature has codified abortion in state law, meaning abortion would remain legal in the state even if Roe is overturned.
Irvin also attempted to pivot away from criticisms of his record as a Republican, a conservative, and a mayor. Irvin has voted in 5 of the past 6 Democratic primaries.
“I’ll define my own record,” he said. “My record [is] as a veteran of the United States Army who served during a time of war. My record is a former prosecutor who put criminals behind bars and worked with police to keep our communities safe. My record [is] the mayor of the second largest city in our state with a proven record of reducing taxes and bringing in businesses and residents and getting things done.”
Chicago media members were particularly focused on the abortion issue, which Irvin has declined to address since last week’s Supreme Court leak.
You can read more, including Irvin’s defense of his attacks on Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) and venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan, here.
OPINION: IRVIN ISN’T UP FOR THE MOMENT
His campaign team (which hasn’t responded to me since Valentine’s Day, by the way) may not agree, and I’ve been tough on him, but I don’t have a problem with Richard Irvin. On paper, there are really great things about his potential candidacy for governor.
He’s a veteran with executive experience in the second largest city in the state, and he’s not lily white, like so much of the GOP appears to be publicly. He has a good biographical story and a moderate, African American suburbanite would be a completely unexpected and unpredictable challenge for Democrat Governor JB Pritzker in the fall.
But to win a Republican primary, it often helps to be an actual Republican. We can, and probably will, have a a discussion about what an actual Republican is these days, but let’s assume I’m talking about a pro-business, low tax, generally conservative Republican. We’ve discussed more than once that Irvin voted in five of the past six Democratic primaries.
With what many assume to be the Trump aberration aside, Illinois Republican primary voters typically read through the imposters. Bruce Rauner grossly outspent opponents and was still almost beaten in a primary twice. Andy McKenna lost for Governor in 2010 and U.S. Senate in 2004. And where do you even start with the statewide travails of Jim Oberweis?
That’s not to say primary voters always pick the most conservative voice, either. Mark Kirk was far too liberal for some Republicans in 2010 and 2016. Judy Baar Topinka dealt with purity testers her entire time in statewide politics.
For Republicans to beat Pritzker in November, they need a candidate who has a grasp of the issues, a plan that relates to a wide swath of voters, can raise money, and, most of all, has an ability to govern or even an interest in governing.
Irvin may be a great mayor. Obviously, you can take property tax levies and crime statistics and building permits and massage them into your message all you want. But being a mayor, even of a city of 200,000, and being governor of a state of 12.7 million people are immeasurably different jobs.
Watching Irvin try to read from a script on the LaSalle Veterans’ Home yesterday was like watching an example of a beginner in a campaign school. Irvin stumbled on the script repeatedly, didn’t look prepared on the issue at hand, and then seemed to have no idea at the questions that were coming his way once he opened it up to media. Did you not expect this? He was defensive, obfuscating, and refused to answer the questions at hand. Obviously, Chicago media are going to be highlighting the most sensational story they can find, even if it has little to do with actual Illinois law.
It’s not like there are great options for Republicans. Darren Bailey is too extreme to win in November, Jesse Sullivan is untested, and Gary Rabine seems to be enjoying himself but has seemingly understanding of policy. With the exception of $45 million from billionaire Ken Griffin and an army of well-heeled political operatives and ad makers, Irvin seems to be facing many of those same issues.
Republicans have had their chances over the years. They passed on Sen. Kirk Dillard, who would likely have been a serious, competent, electable governor, twice. They weren’t fully behind Topinka, who could have saved us from much of the disaster of the Blagojevich years. They went with Rauner, the unqualified guy with the expensive TV ads, in 2014, and we saw the kind of disaster he was.
Which one of these will Irvin be?
So far, I can’t say I’m incredibly hopeful.
GARMAN TO RETIRE FROM SUPREME COURT, PREVENTS 2022 ELECTION
Justice Rita Garman, the longest tenured justice on the Illinois Supreme Court and only the second woman ever to be seated on the bench of the state’s highest court, has announced her retirement after more than 20 years of service.
Garman, who lives in Danville, was appointed to the court in 2001 and elected to a full term in 2002. She won retention in 2012 and would have faced voters for retention again in November.
Garman, 78, has been dodging questions about her future, especially since Democrats moved her home out of the 4th district and into the southern Illinois-based 5th District, though most experts agreed she could likely still seek retention in the 4th district.
Instead, Garman will retire from the bench July 7.
In a statement released Monday, Garman said she was honored by the opportunity to serve.
“As I look back on my career, there were many uphill challenges,” she wrote. “When I decided to become a lawyer, there were no women on either the Illinois Supreme Court or the Illinois Appellate Court, and very few women judges throughout our state. In my first-year class at the University of Iowa College of Law, there were only eight women. A professor once told me that he believed I was only there to “catch a husband” and should give up my seat to “a more deserving male candidate, who would have a family to support.”
Though, she said, many of those stereotypes are in the past.
“When I graduated in 1968, I had a difficult time getting hired as a lawyer, as there were simply not many women lawyers practicing. I was turned down for a number of open positions, once being told “I don’t know what I would do with you because no one wants to talk to a woman lawyer,” she wrote. “Today, I am proud that these opinions are a relic of the past. I am also pleased that 40 percent of Illinois lawyers are now women, and the number of women in many law classrooms outnumber men.”
Garman was first appointed an associate judge in 1974, became a circuit judge in 1986, an appellate judge in 1995, and was appointed to the Supreme Court six years later.
Because her retirement is taking place after the June 28 primary, there will not be an election to replace her in 2022. Instead, the Court (traditionally, Garman herself) will appoint Garman’s replacement to serve through the 2024 election.
Former State Representative John Turner, who is currently an Appellate Justice in the 4th District, is perceived as a potential candidate to replace Garman. Turner is the husband of Sen. Sally Turner (R-Beason).
Garman served as Chief Justice from 2013-2016.
DAN BRADY GETS FOP ENDORSEMENT
I don’t have enough time or room to write about a ton of endorsements, I found this interesting.
While the Griffin slate is working hard on the “tough on crime” angle, Secretary of State candidate John Milhiser was passed over by the Fraternal Order of Police for Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington).
“We back Dan Brady because of his unwavering lifetime support for law enforcement,” said FOP State Lodge President Chris Southwood. “This support spans from the time he was a county official working closely with local police agencies, through his current tenure in the Illinois General Assembly where he stood by the men and women of law enforcement regardless of the way the political winds were blowing.”
The ad writes itself.
DCFS DIRECTOR SPEAKS
Embattled DCFS Director Marc Smith spoke to Capitol News Illinois about the nine contempt of court charges he’s facing because the agency is failing to put vulnerable kids in appropriate settings.
He called the kids “the outliers of the outliers.”
“We are working very hard to identify qualified residential treatment providers, increasing the skill set of providers and making sure that there is enhanced case management and educational and development areas for these children,” Smith said.
“As a parent, it would be heartbreaking to surrender your child to a government agency because you could not provide appropriate care,” Smith said.
That means the state’s approach must go beyond DCFS, he said.
Go read the whole thing. Beth Hunsdorfer has gone from reporter to flack to CNI, and she’s killing it on this beat. Kudos to her.
BEFORE WE GO