Richard C. Irvin

Richard C. Irvin is an American lawyer, politician, and the mayor of Aurora, Illinois. In 2022, he sought the Republican nomination for Illinois Governor. While seen as a conservative at the beginning of his political career, as Aurora mayor he adopted policies much more in line with Democrats, before again reversing himself on a number of issues when he ran for governor. Early life and education Irvin was born and raised in Aurora, Illinois, the son of a single mother. He is a graduate of East Aurora High School. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in the Gulf War. Irvin graduated with a B.A. from Robert Morris College and in 1998, he received a J.D. from the Northern Illinois University College of Law. He served as a substitute teacher in the East Aurora School District and as an adjunct professor at Robert Morris College and Northern Illinois University. Law career After graduating from law school, Irvin served as an assistant state's attorney for the Cook County State's Attorney's office and the Kane County State's Attorney's office. In 2001, Irvin was named Aurora's first community prosecutor, an alternative law enforcement strategy designed to improve police relationships with residents and develop solutions to drugs, prostitution, and other quality of life crimes. As community prosecutor, Irvin joined the U.S. Department of Justice's “Weed and Seed” program, which aimed to both aggressively combat crime in specified areas, but also provide redevelopment and social services. Irvin also successfully pressured the owners of Woodlands Apartments, an apartment complex notorious for violent crimes, drug sales, and prostitution, to improve security of the complex or be shut down. A year after Irvin's intervention, residents said the complex was "pretty much cleaned up." Irvin was removed as community prosecutor in late 2002 and he resigned from the Kane County State's Attorney's office in 2003 to open his own law office.