Lake County Gazette

The campaign of GOP governor hopeful Richard Irvin bused in "elderly Indian senior citizens" to vote for him in a Lake County Republican straw poll on the primary race Saturday, sources tell Lake County Gazette.

They say Irvin campaign aides gave the bused-in attendees pre-filled ballots to vote for their candidate at the event, hosted at the Village of Round Lake Beach Cultural and Civic Center. 

"They had no idea who was running, or who they were voting for," a source present, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, told the Gazette. "They were directed where to walk and when to leave."

Aides to GOP Gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin direct bused-in voters for the Lake County straw poll, Sat. April 23, 2022 | Lake County Gazette

"It was rigged," they said.

Irvin Deputy Campaign Manager Anthony Sarros and Political Director Derek Murphy, present at the event, initially "seemed frantic as they waited outside for what we later saw were these buses of voters," the source said.

"I expected that only registered voters who vote in Republican primaries could vote," they said. "They were clearly from outside of Lake county and had no connection to our county Republican Party. But all were voting for Richard Irvin."

Sources confirmed straw poll voters were not validated as registered voters or Lake County residents by county Chairman Mark Shaw, who organized the event.

Candidates were supposed to take questions from straw poll voters, but Shaw wouldn't allow it, the source said.

Shaw reported the straw poll results as 144 for Irvin, 76 each for both Darren Bailey and Jesse Sullivan, 63 for Gary Rabine and six for Paul Schimpf.

A tally of votes by only Lake County Precinct Committeemen was 28 for Bailey, 20 for Sullivan, 11 for Rabine, three for Irvin and two for Schimpf.

“Although Richard Irvin came out on top today, no candidate received a majority of the vote or even cracked 40%, so it appears to still be a race that is wide open depending on who has the best message, who has the best campaign team, who gathers the most support and who raises the most funds to get their message across to the GOP base,” Shaw said on Facebook.

Former GOP State Senate candidate Chris Kasperski of Lindenhurst responded to to Shaw's post that his straw poll was "an embarrassment."

Hours after the event, Irvin claimed victory in the Lake County straw poll on his twitter account.

"We are honored to announce that we have won the Lake County GOP 2022 straw poll," he wrote. "This is an enormous accomplishment."

Former GOP state representative candidate Marko Sukovic of Lincolnshire disagreed.

"I think the poll’s significance is exaggerated, especially considering many people now know the 'Lake County' straw poll was determined by the busing in of unassuming people from outside of our county," he wrote on Twitter. "Good thing we do not run our elections this way!"

Lake Forest Scout writer Gabe F. Guidarini was first to publish reports of the bused-in voters on his Twitter account.

The GOP primary is June 28.