Dupage Policy Journal

GOP gubernatorial candidate and Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin is leading the Republican field in fundraising, according to a recent poll.

Irvin leads a recent poll conducted by Cor Strategies, with Sen. Darren Bailey in second place. 

According to Collin Corbett of Cor Strategies, the more a candidate gets their message out, the better their polling appears to be. 

An operative formerly employed by that group assisted Irvin with busing in elderly Indians to fix a Lake County straw poll. 

“This man in the Irvin/Bourne shirt is Derek Murphy, or now I’m being told possibly a Soros fellow. He is the former member of the Illinois Republican Party who left that position to join the Irvin/Bourne campaign,” attorney general candidate Tom DeVore said in a Facebook post. 

Previously, Murphy was previously employed as a political director for Cor Strategies, the group handling polling the polling. 

In a statement to LGIS, Cor Strategies said they are not working with the Irvin campaign and Murphy has not been employed by the firm since 2019. 

In the latter case, Murphy was identified as the person helping the elderly Indian passengers off the bus who were carrying pre-filled ballots with Irvin’s name selected. According to a profile on Cor Strategies website, Murphy is a former campaigner for Gov. Bruce Rauner's campaign. He has also worked for former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and State Rep. Seth Lewis (R-Bartlett). He was also a precinct committeeman for the Downers Township Republican Organization. 

"Get in touch if you are interested in joining the team that’s going to take our state back from the disastrous governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker," Murphy posted on LinkedIn two weeks ago sharing a post from Anthony Sarros, deputy campaign manager for Irvin.

Of the six candidates for governor, The Center Square noted only three are competitive — Irvin, tech entrepreneur Jesse Sullivan and Bailey.

Irvin has tried to raise his profile by making more public appearances, but the harm has already been done. On April 25, he skipped the Central Illinois Republican Governor Candidate Forum, as well as a number of other activities, according to the Peoria Standard. Others in the Republican Party have spoken out against Irvin's absence from public appearances. 

"Richard Irvin's empty chair on stage Monday will speak volumes to me," Tazewell County Clerk John C. Ackerman said after Irvin refused to participate in the forum, the Peoria Standard reported.

Irvin has been described as a pawn in the hands of billionaire Citadel owner Ken Griffin. 

"Griffin wanted to make/mold a winning candidate out of whole cloth," former state senator and Woodbridge-based attorney Ron Sandack said on Twitter, Dupage Policy Journal reported. "He didn't care that Irvin wasn't a Republican, he thought (wrongly) he was without a record worth criticizing. He was again wrong."

Irvin will face Bailey, Sullivan, McHenry County businessman Gary Rabine, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf, Max Solomon and Emily Johnson in the June 28 primary.

Correction: According to Cor Strategies, Derek Murphy has not been with the firm since 2019.