Metro East Sun

Illinois Republican state Rep. Avery Bourne’s motivation for becoming the state’s lieutenant governor alongside would-be governor Richard Irvin is simple.

“The children of Illinois deserve better,” Bourne (R-Morrisonville) said in a recent post to Facebook. “We can #TakeItBack and make Illinois an affordable state to live in, where families don’t have to worry about crime. Our kids should be able to grow up in Illinois, stay here and be able to raise their own family in Illinois. Richard, our team and I are the ones who are going to bring promise and hope back to Illinois. #TakeItBack.”

Irvin and Bourne’s message already appears to be resonating with an increasing number of voters, as evidenced by the two recently winning the Lake County GOP 2022 Straw Poll with almost 20% more support than their closest rivals.

“Today, Richard and I won the Lake County GOP 2022 straw poll,” Bourne posted in the aftermath. “Thank you so much to the Lake County GOP for hosting us—from top to bottom, our #TakeItBack movement is strong in Illinois,” Bourne posted.

First elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 2014, Bourne has earned a reputation for pushing ethics in Springfield, ultimately serving as chairman of the Legislative Ethics Commission.

More recently, she joined Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) in introducing House Bill 5344, which would "require a school board to ensure parents are free to petition the school board and speak freely at all public and regularly scheduled school board meetings; ensure that parents are well-informed on what is being taught in their child's classroom; give parents the right to meet with a child's teacher at least twice per school year; and require a school board to post curriculum and learning materials on the school district's website.”

According to fightingforillinois.com, Irvin likewise prides himself on being a “tough on crime prosecutor.” A decorated combat veteran, he has pushed for balanced budgets, tax relief and defeating the "defund the police" movement during his time as mayor of the city of Aurora.

Together the Irvin/Bourne team has been vocal about public safety and the need for a repeal of the recently enacted SAFE-T Act.

"We have a problem: Crime is rampant, and the rate of police officer deaths is far outpacing the growing rate of crime. We need to repeal the dangerous policies in the SAFE-T Act and support law enforcement in IL," they wrote in a tweet posted on April 27.

Bourne has stressed that she is proud to be running with “this historic team” and together they will “work together to reduce crime, fight corruption and return fiscal responsibility for the people of this great state.”

The slate also includes John Milhiser for secretary of state, Shannon Teresi for comptroller, Tom Demmer for treasurer and Steve Kim for attorney general.