Metro East Sun

GOP activist Christopher Hicks is laying into State Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Pawnee) for her alleged backroom dealings with Democrats. 

"Irvin and Bourne are nothing more than Democrats who are disguising themselves as Republicans to further destroy Illinois," Hicks told Metro East Sun. "Bourne helped Madigan retain his power over the years and Bourne is part of indicted House Speaker Madigan's ‘Chinatown’ scheme in which Bourne sponsored a bill to sell surplus state property. Bourne also received a donation to her campaign from Madigan's longtime chief counsel Michael Kasper through his law firm. Do not be fooled by Irvin and Bourne."

Conservatives have pounced on Bourne, who is the lieutenant governor candidate paired with Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin. In 2019, the Pawnee Republican submitted an opinion piece to explain her vote to raise the state's gas tax.  

"As a conservative Republican, I have never voted for a tax increase, but 1990s-level gas tax revenue was no longer sufficient for 2020 infrastructure needs," she wrote in explaining her vote for the tax hike.  

She has since been criticized for the vote given Illinois's distinction for having the second-highest gas taxes in the nation.

"There are candidates in this race with law degrees that could have mitigated Pritzker's lockdown orders, but they didn’t," said former Illinois State Rep. Jeanne Ives.

For supporting Gov. J.B. Pritzker's Covid rules, Bourne and Irvin have been dubbed "Madigan's favorite Republicans."  Ives added that "both are pretending that they stood up to the governor on COVID rules when the opposite is true in that regard."

In May 2020, Bourne cursed State Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), a gubernatorial contender, 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.