Richard Irvin Only Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Who Broke From Trump…

… assuming Irvin was ever with Trump

Written by John Lopez

Back on June 25, 2019, Aurora Mayor, now “Republican” gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin, said the following:

“Aurora was built by and is still sustained by hardworking families where every dollar counts.  We applaud Congresswoman Underwood for her stalwart efforts and fully support H.R.1757 and its goal of providing tax relief to working families.”

As the quote said, Irvin applauded U.S. Representative Lauren Underwood (D-Naperville) in the context of her congressional office’s press release of 6/25/19.

Lauren Underwood at Woodstock Gay Pride parade June 2019

Yes, Irvin is on record helping Underwood peddle lies about President Trump’s first significant achievement in his term, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) back in mid 2019, when Irvin had pulled a Republican ballot in the primary the previous year.

Irvin spread lies about the state and local taxes (SALT) deduction caps impacts, including the lie of “double taxation”.

Back in 2019, Underwood’s legislation, H.R. 1757 (116th Congress) was one of many pieces of legislation in Congress seeking to dismantle the Trump tax cuts of TCJA by raising the state and local tax deduction cap from the current $10,000 that was implemented to help pay for TCJA, to higher limits.

Underwood and U.S. Representative Sean Casten (D-Downers Grove) both maintain this is to help the middle class.

In a mid-July 2019 press release where Mayor Irvin was quoted again, Underwood stated with emphasis added:

“Middle class families in the 14th District of Illinois are being double-taxed due to changes in the state and local tax deduction from the Republican tax law, all so the one percent and big corporations can get a tax break they don’t need.”

LIE! Double taxation is illegal!

Given litigation in several states attempted to strike down SALT limitations filed and dismissed since TCJA was implemented, the courts have made it clear there is no double taxation taking place in TCJA, including the SALT deduction cap.

This is deliberate language to draw a wedge with the lie that the TCJA cheated middle class families.

That is dead wrong.

And Aurora Mayor Irvin supported Underwood’s lies from the summer of 2019 against the Trump tax cuts.

The truth is the roaring pre-pandemic economy Americans enjoyed was due to the TCJA which gave businesses a greater incentive to invest and to hire.

The TCJA also lowered tax rates, and federal withholding on everyone’s paychecks.

And with Americans keeping more of their hard-earned money, there was no inflation at the levels seen in the past year under President Joe Biden.

Underwood tries to advance her claim using the same approach the Democrats used in a June 25, 2019 House Ways and Means subcommittee hearing, to tell about alleged hardships caused by the SALT deduction cap of the Trump tax cuts.

In opening the hearing, the Subcommittee Chairman Mike Thompson (D-CA) stated the hearing’s purpose was to hear testimony:

“…how recent limitations to the SALT deduction harm communities, schools, first responders and housing values.”

The subcommittee heard testimony from local government witnesses including the mayors of Falls Church, VA and Bayville, NY; the commissioner of Berks County, PA; the school superintendent of Upper Arlington, OH; and the president of the Professional Firefighters of WI.

Underwood’s 6/25/19 press release uses a similar approach, using elected officials from jurisdictions within the 14th district. they were:

• Jack Franks (D), McHenry County Board Chairman
• Larry Walsh (D), Will County Board Executive
• Sandy Hart (D), Lake County Board Chair
• Richard Irvin, Aurora Mayor
• Ray Rogina, St. Charles Mayor
• Denise Winfrey (D), Will County Board Speaker
• John Wasik (D), Lake County Board Member

Given 5 out of the 7 elected officials cited were elected as Democrats reveals a one-sided point-of-view already.  And Mayor Irvin’s political party affiliation has been well documented, per the Kane County clerk’s office:

The current 14th District includes 7 counties, but only 4 are represented among Underwood’s chosen elected officials.

What about DuPage, DeKalb and Kendall counties (the Aurora mayor has constituents in 2 of those counties).

Since Lake, McHenry and Will counties had their elected county board chairs/executives, where were their counterparts from DuPage, Kane, Kendall and DeKalb counties?

Wouldn’t Underwood receive consistent inputs from DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin (R), then-Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen (R), Kendall County Board Chairman Scott Gryder (R) or then-DeKalb County Board Chairman Mark Pietrowski (D)?

Did she even ask them?

And Mayor Irvin went along with Underwood’s one-sided view of the Trump tax cuts?

Who broke from Trump?  Irvin’s campaign claimed it was Illinois State Senator Darren Bailey (R-Louisville).

The record says otherwise.

The other six local leaders Underwood quoted in addition to Mayor Irvin gave similar deceptive statements like the Republican candidate for governor who’s mayor of Aurora in the press release.

The reason Irvin’s and the others are deceptive is because it denies the whole truth of federal taxation on all income levels, and the fact the change Underwood is talking about will only benefit the wealthy, and not bring one dime of tax relief to working families.

Here’s why.

Nicole Kaeding

On June 25, 2019, an additional witness before the congressional subcommittee was Nicole Kaeding, the vice president of federal and special projects at the Tax Foundation. Here is a brief excerpt of her testimony that day:

“Even those impacted by the SALT cap often saw a net tax decrease.

“First, they often were previously impacted by prior implicit SALT limitations, such as the AMT [alternative minimum tax] and the Pease limitation [limitations for itemized deductions], which were repealed by the TCJA.

“Second, some quit itemizing their deductions, switching to the expanded standard deduction.

“Filers also benefit from lower rates and the expanded child tax credit, among other changes.

“To the small group of individuals with net tax increases, an estimated 6.5 percent in 2018, it is unlikely that the tax increase is solely due to the SALT cap.

“It is often due to interactions with other provisions, such as the repeal of personal exemptions.

“The deduction cap is frequently cited as impacting state budgets; however, its impact is overstated.

“States saw an increase in revenue from tax reform, due to their conformity to the federal tax code.

“State and local governments have also explored and passed tax increases since the passage of the new SALT cap.”

Note that last sentence about governments exploring and passing tax increases since the end of 2017.

Remember what happened in the Illinois General Assembly nearly 3 years ago?

Didn’t Irvin’s lieutenant governor running mate, state Representative Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville) vote in favor of those higher taxes at the end of the 2019 spring session of the General Assembly, SB1939?  Here is the senators’ roll call. 

Given Federal Income Taxes are due next Monday, April 18, Illinoisans know many of the tax increases couldn’t be written off by middle class taxpayers to begin with, like gasoline taxes, cigarette taxes, and increased vehicle registration fees, among others, and Underwood’s legislation does not change current law that those tax increases cannot be deducted on federal tax returns.

Mayor Irvin should have known better, too, and Irvin’s running mate voted for those tax increases in 2019.

Thank God the graduated income tax constitutional amendment failed during the 2020 general election.

The Tax Foundation’s analysis, including video of Kaeding’s testimony can be viewed here.

The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation gives similar analytics, and it is linked in the Bloomberg articles here and here.

But look at something else Ms. Kaeding said:

“To the small group of individuals with net tax increases, an estimated 6.5 percent in 2018, it is unlikely that the tax increase is solely due to the SALT cap.” (emphasis added)

Given the 6.5% cited, what about the other 93.5% of taxpayers?

The constituencies represented by Underwood’s leaders cannot all be in the 6.5%, could they?

So was Mayor Irvin being intentionally naive when he worked with Underwood to undermine the Trump tax cuts?

Remembering after Underwood was first elected and flipped the IL-14, Irvin, in late December of 2018, gave Underwood the key to the city:

As for the results of Irvin’s efforts working with Underwood to undermine the Trump tax cuts, the U.S. House Democratic leadership rejected Underwood’s bill, and opted to go for a two-year repeal of SALT deduction caps.  The Democrats’ plan went nowhere with the Senate.

So in light of this record, and the Irvin gubernatorial campaign accusing rival Darren Bailey as “leaving Trump” and a “Never Trumper”, the evidence overwhelming Mayor Irvin’s campaign was projecting.

One is reminded of something Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy said back in January as Irvin launched his campaign for governor, as revealed in a January 17 tweet by WCIA-TV’s Mark Maxwell:

“Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy confirms Richard Irvin will announce his candidacy for Governor today on Martin Luther King Day.  Tracy says Irvin is ‘definitely a Republican,’ but may have pulled Democratic ballots because ‘that’s where the action is’ near Chicago.”

Forget the facts presented in Irvin’s voting history shown from the Kane County clerk, and even take away the fact the township Democrat ballots cast in 2017 and 2021 applied to Tracy’s statement, pulling Democratic ballots in 2014, 2016 and 2020 knowing there was a lot of electoral action in the Kane County Republican primaries those years proves establishment Republican Party leaders attempt to present lies about Irvin’s Democratic voting history.

Now the record of Irvin helping Underwood spread lies about the Trump tax cuts leaves no doubt Irvin was never with Trump.

John Lopez has written about policy and elections through the McHenry County Blog since 2019. He is now semi-retired, and does freelance work with analytics, as well as political candidates, emphasizing policy as the means to advance the conservative message, by engaging through policy “dog fighting”, applying discernment for winning and advancing God’s Kingdom agenda.

John’s known for getting past the talking points, the narratives, the abstracts, the platitudes and the bromides in order to discuss policy and apply Scripture to overcome unholy divisions in the local community, our state, and nation.

John has been married for over 16 years.