Why Did Richard Irvin Endorse Bruce Rauner’s Failed Governorship?
As Richard Irvin hits Day 10 of hiding from reporters and voters, let’s take a moment to remember what happened the last time a Republican held power in Illinois. From 2015 to 2017, Bruce Rauner’s budget impasse gutted human services, dropped our credit status to near junk, wasted billions in taxpayer money, and caused widespread crisis that we are still recovering from today. Just this week we were reminded of damage done when a new study from Northwestern University demonstrated the Rauner budget impasse triggered a spike in youth homicides.
Now, Bruce Rauner’s moneyman, Ken Griffin, and Rauner’s old campaign team are teaming up to try and re-install a slate of Raunerites to take our state backwards. The centerpiece of the Rauner Reboot is Irvin, a longtime admirer of the failed governor. In early 2018, Richard Irvin endorsed Bruce Rauner for re-election despite Rauner’s pitiful performance. Now, Rauner is calling Irvin a “good guy” who has the “best chance” of winning the GOP primary.
While Irvin continues to duck the media, at some point he will need to answer a basic question: what was it about Bruce Rauner’s disastrous tenure that led Irvin to endorse Rauner’s re-election campaign?
Irvin and the Rauner Reboot have been touting their plans to “Take Illinois Back,” but we all know what that really means: dark days for Illinoisans and an administration that doesn’t work for working families.
