Irvin campaign files three frivolous objections in attempt to remove political opponents from the ballot

IRVIN MAKES UP LAWS IN ATTEMPT TO REMOVE OPPONENTS FROM BALLOT:

All five mayoral campaigns that are opposing Richard Irvin have been in regular contact and worked together to get a total of six candidates on the ballot for the municipal races this spring. If there are five or more candidates on the ballot, there will be a Feb. 25, 2025 runoff election.

Facing declining popularity, Richard Irvin’s campaign launched a series of baseless legal objections to three of the Aurora mayoral candidates (John Laesch, Karina Garcia and Jazmine Garcia) in a feeble attempt to remove his opponents from the ballot. The objections allege that because these campaigns worked together that they are a “de facto political party” that must play by a different set of rules. (Graphic 7)

There are no legal grounds for Irvin’s argument as there is no Illinois law that prevents a candidate from circulating petitions for another candidate of the same office in a nonpartisan race. Aurora has a nonpartisan form of government and the election rules for nonpartisan races are the only rules that apply in this case. Attempting to re-write Illinois election law through a creative legal challenge is an act of desperation because Irvin knows he cannot win a one-on-one election on April 1, 2025.

BURT ODELSON TRIED THIS TACTICT IN 1986 AND FAILED:

In addition to there being no legal basis for this objection there is also case law (McGuire v. Nogaj – 1986) that has already ruled that Irvin’s approach is not legal. The appellate court wrote: “We agree with the position taken by Nogaj, the board of election commissioners, the circuit court of Cook County that the above-mentioned prohibition does not apply to dual circulation for two independent candidates in an aldermanic election.” (Graphics 10, 11 & 12)

There are other, similar cases where this approach has completely failed, yet here Irvin’s campaign, backed by the Illinois Republican Party’s attorney, John Fogarty, (graphic 4) is once again trying to fabricate election laws through this frivolous objection.

RICHARD IRVIN’S CAMPAIGN IS BEHIND THESE CHALLENGES.

The official objector in all three objections filed against myself, Karina Garcia and Jazmine Garcia is a woman named Tara Loza. She is part of Richard Irvin’s campaign and helped circulate petitions to get Irvin on the ballot. (Graphics 2 & 3) Tara also volunteers for Challenge-to-Change, a local non-profit organization that is run by Irvin’s previous campaign manager, Javier Reyes. Other people affiliated with this non-profit also circulated Irvin’s petitions.

RICHARD IRVIN’S 2017 CAMPAIGN ALSO “FORCED A RUNOFF.”

The irony is not lost on me that Richard Irvin used an identical tactic to force a runoff election in 2017 when he recruited write-in candidates to get on the ballot and trigger a primary election. There was a legal challenge similar to this one which Irvin ultimately prevailed in, forcing a 2017 run-off election between State Representative Chapa Lavia, Alderman Saville, Rick Guzman and then Alderman-at-Large, Richard Irvin. I was one of the people who was approached by the 2017 Irvin campaign to serve as a write-in candidate. I declined, but others stepped forward to file.

Irvin used this tactic to win in 2017 and now he is using a reverse legal tactic to limit the number of his political opponents and choose the candidates he would rather un against.

TRANSPARENCY COLLECITNG SIGNATURES FOR MY OPPONENTS:

It was a bit confusing collecting signatures for some of my opponents. During the collection process I told registered voters in Aurora that I was getting signatures for my opponents to trigger a runoff election on February 25^th and get a one-on-one race for the April election. Voters were enthusiastic to sign the petition when they realized that this is the best way to get rid of Richard Irvin and his reckless spending.

NEXT STEPS:

These petition challenges involve intense, rapid-fire motions and deadlines that require our attorney and the campaign to work quickly. These objections will next be heard at the Aurora City Council Chambers (44 E. Downer Pl., Aurora, IL. 60505 – Second Floor) on Monday, November 18^th @ 8:00 AM.

WE WILL WIN THIS CASE, BUT WE NEED MONEY TO DO IT:

I have retained the best, ethical, election lawyer in Illinois and we will win this fight, but we need your financial support to pay the legal bills. If you can contribute, please chip in $27, $50, $100 or more to help us raise the necessary funds to win this challenge.