Lake County Gazette

Republican attorney general candidate Thomas DeVore has expanded on claims that Republican gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin bussed in Indian senior citizens to vote in a straw poll.

“This man in the Irvin/Bourne shirt is Derek Murphy, or now I’m being told possibly a Soros fellow," DeVore said in a Facebook post accompanied by a picture of a man helping a woman on a bus. "He is the former member of the Illinois Republican Party who left that position to join the Irvin/Bourne campaign.  He’s making sure the Indian Senior citizens get back on the bus.  Mr. Irvin’s team has serious connections to the establishment Republicans who have done nothing for the people of this state for years."   

DeVore captioned his post "UPDATE ON RICHARD IRVIN STRAW POLL GAMES." 

"Also, word on the street is Nimish Jani, who is the committee person from the 8th district of the Illinois Republican Party, and who is also Indian, may have orchestrated getting the Indian Senior citizens lined up, in exchange for Mr. Jani being set to receive an appointment into Mr. Irvin’s cabinet if he wins," DeVore posted on Facebook. "I have no direct knowledge if this is true but Mr. Jani is an Indian man from Cook County who is an establishment Republican, the Senior citizens are Indian and also from Cook county, and these good people really had no idea why they were there and what was going on.  It certainly seems plausible does it not?"

He urged voters to stay vigilant. 

"While you won’t be able to see it until early June, you should each remind yourselves to go look at Mr. Irvin’s campaign account and see if and how much of a donation he made to the Indian Senior citizens group for their efforts?" DeVore said. "It’s all one big club my friends and you ain’t in it!! You can however dismantle the club and start over!! It’s your call!!"

Murphy was "Political Director for the Chicagoland area," according to the Cor Strategies website. 

Cor Strategies told LGIS Murphy has not been employed with the company since 2019. 

Per his profile on the political services group's website, he is a former campaigner for ex-governor Bruce Rauner's campaign. Murphy has also worked for former Ohio governor John Kasich and State Rep. Seth Lewis (R-Bartlett). He was also a precinct committeeman for the Downers Township Republican Organization. “Derek began his life in the political arena in 2012, while still in college at Benedictine University, volunteering for Judy Biggert for Congress,” the profile reads. 

Conservative radio show host Dan Proft said Irvin’s campaign is backed by the same forces that put Rauner into office. 

Jani is a former Schaumburg trustee. In May 2021 he celebrated the end of his political career — after he was voted out of office — at the Verandah Retirement Community, which specializes in providing elderly care to Indian senior citizens. “On April 25 a large crowd of Indian leadership of the Chicagoland area and many elected officials gathered at Verandah Retirement Community in Hanover Park, Illinois to honor the legacy of Nimish Jani 8 years of public service as an elected official. Special Thanks to Dr. Anuja Gupta for hosting the event,” Jani said in a Facebook post at the time. 

Despite being a two-term incumbent Jani came in last place in the 2021 election.

DeVore is a Greenville-based attorney who had originally intended to seek a judgeship, changed his mind, and chose to run for state attorney general instead after a series of wins over the Pritzker administration forcing the end of masking in schools. He'll face David Shestokas in the primary on June 28.

Correction: The story has been updated to reflect Murphy is not a current employee of Cor Strategies.