After two months of hiding from the public, the Ken Griffin-funded Rauner Reboot slate emerged again this week to dodge tough questions and repeat outright lies in a short press conference. Led by Richard Irvin’s long-winded diatribes and evasive non-answers, the Griffin slate has resorted to spouting claims that are easily proven as false instead of answering simple questions. Just like Griffin, Irvin and the slate simply refuse to answer the basic questions they don’t like, instead resorting to pivots, dodges, and filibusters to keep the questions at bay.
- Irvin claimed he “succeeded in reducing taxes in the city of Aurora” but failed to mention that utility taxes went up by 400% under his leadership.
- Irvin dodged questions about why his ads prominently feature his five years as a prosecutor and not his fifteen years as a defense attorney.
- Despite hitting his fellow Republicans for voting for Democrats, Irvin refused to own up to his own votes where he pulled Democratic primary ballots in 2014, 2016, and 2020.
- Comptroller candidate Shannon Teresi challenged everyone to “open up the 2020 financial statements” under Comptroller Mendoza. Doing so would show that the comptroller is eliminating the bill backlog, which was at $16 billion when she took office in 2016 and is now down $3.8 billion with the office paying bills within 15 days.
- At the start of his campaign Irvin claimed he called in the national guard in the summer of 2020, but that claim has been disproven repeatedly as only the governor has that power.
- In February, Irvin claimed he’s “always been opposed to mandates,” but in reality he actively promoted many COVID-19 mandates.
- None of the Griffin slate candidates outside of Irvin have filed a single A-1 fundraising disclosure since their campaigns began despite claiming a month ago that “fundraising events are being planned.”
Try as they might, the Rauner Reboot slate cannot avoid answering questions forever. From who they voted for in past elections to dubious claims about their record, Illinois voters deserve the truth from Griffin and his slate about their real plans for Illinois.
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