Prairie State Wire

The Illinois Family Institute is questioning the absence of the Irvin/Bourne campaign’s participation in its Voter Guide survey.  

David Smith, executive director of the pro-family Christian organization, noted the voter guide is important to let voters know the values candidates hold.  

"We do a voter guide for every election cycle, including the primary," Smith told Prairie State Wire. "And we really try to work our candidates to get them — all the candidates — to submit their survey. We send them a questionnaire and we ask them to send it back filled out by a certain deadline. And then we pursue them, we email them, we remind them, we call them, we Facebook Messenger them…whatever way we can to try to remind them to send it in because they want to have their views represented in the voter guide."

The voter guide is produced to inform voters about candidates' beliefs and the opportunity for those running to present it to the public.

"They don't want to have just a bunch of blank marks next to their name. Now, incumbents who have a voting record, well, they're going to have their voting record reflected in the voter guide. Those who don't have a voting record in the General Assembly and they're running for state office — they're going to leave people wondering what do they stand for? What do they value, what's important to them? And in the end, it's clear that they don't want the people to know what they stand for. They only want them to know certain soundbites that their media handlers are telling them to say. That goes for any candidate who didn't fill out the survey. There's this philosophy that they can't hang me if I never said it. So don't go on the record. Don't say something and then get nailed for it later and that's just not a public servant’s heart. That's selfish career snollygosters." 

Smith issued a statement on behalf of the Illinois Family Institute regarding Irvin’s failure to participate.  

"We are disappointed (but not surprised) that the Irvin/Bourne campaign chose to not respond to the popular IFI Voter Guide survey," he said. "As the state's only full-time, pro-family Christian organization, you would think that Republican candidates in a crowded field would want to make their views known to the base. It's only fair to conclude they are intentionally hiding their true political preferences and are striving to circumvent any serious vetting and/or debates that would pin them down on current cultural issues.” 

Irvin and Bourne have refused to engage with several other conservative groups. On Monday, Irvin skipped the Central Illinois Republican Governor Candidate Forum and has been difficult to locate on the campaign trail, according to the Peoria Standard. The New Trier Township Republican Committee is also awaiting Irvin’s participation in its meet and greet series before making its May 7 endorsement.

Irvin has been characterized as a puppet candidate put to work by billionaire Citadel owner Ken Griffin, the Dupage Policy Journal reported.

"Griffin wanted to make/mold a winning candidate out of whole cloth," former state senator and Woodbridge-based attorney Ron Sandack said on Twitter. "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 State Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), tech entrepreneur Jesse Sullivan, McHenry County businessman Gary Rabine, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf, Max Solomon and Emily Johnson in the June 28 primary.