Lake County Gazette

A video shows supporters of Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin and running mate State Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Pawnee) being bused in to vote in a Lake County straw poll. In the video an Irvin-Bourne supporter holds the bus door as elderly voters board the bus.

Irvin is accused of using the tactic to win the poll. A source told Lake County Gazette the vote was "rigged.”

"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."

Irvin and running mate State Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Pawnee) have been branded "Madigan's favorite Republicans" for supporting Gov. J.B. Pritzker's Covid regulations. Conservatives regarded the running mates to have rolled over science in favor of political pressure regarding mask mandate, according to Dupage Policy Journal. Former Illinois State Representative and Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeanne Ives said that "There are candidates in this race with law degrees that could have mitigated Pritzker's lockdown orders, but they didn’t," Ives said.

“The truth is, Richard Irving and Avery Bourne just may be both Madigan and Pritzker's favorite Republicans," Ives also stated.

Bourne cursed at State Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) — a gubernatorial candidate in his own right — in May 2020 for refusing to wear a mask on the Senate floor.

"Through fake tears she screamed at the entire House Republican Caucus to just 'wear our masks,' screaming specifically at me 'just put on your ***king mask,’" Bailey wrote of the incident. The incident allegedly occurred two years ago on May 20, when House Republicans went to caucus in the Bank of Springfield Center, where the legislative session was being held for social distancing purposes, at the start of the legislative session, SE Illinois News reported.

State Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City) affirmed Bailey’s account of the incident, noting Bourne was "out of control."