https://amgreatness.com/2022/01/18/black-republican-mayor-launches-campaign-for-governor-of-illinois-on-martin-luther-king-day/
A black Republican mayor launched his campaign for governor of Illinois on Martin Luther King Day with a powerful video acclaiming the dreams of his great grandfather, who was born a slave.
Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, 51, is the fifth candidate to compete for the nomination to run against billionaire Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the 2022 gubernatorial election.
“Richard Baxter Irvin was born a slave, but he dreamed of being free,” Irvin said in his campaign launch video. “I don’t just share the name Richard Irvin,” he said. “I share his dream of what Illinois could be: where a growing economy provides ladders of opportunity for anyone willing to work; where families are safe; where kids are educated, not indoctrinated.”
In his campaign video, Irvin describes his own humble beginnings growing up in Section Eight public housing in Aurora.
“Mom had me at 16, a single mother working two jobs. Didn’t have much of a father, but my granddad, son of Richard Baxter Irvin, taught me to believe in myself, to do the best I could in whatever I did,” he said.
After graduating from high school, Irvin joined the Army and fought in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. He later attended law school at Northern Illinois University, and following graduation became a prosecutor in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. He eventually a “community prosecutor” in his hometown.
Irvin ran for mayor of Aurora in 2005 and 2009, and lost both races. He later became a local GOP precinct committeeman. Irvin was elected as the first black mayor of Aurora in 2017, and takes credit for lowering the city’s crime rates. If elected, he would be the first black governor of Illinois.