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When they met in 2018, Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar found Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin to be a bright guy who was personable and ultimately left a favorable impression.

Irvin, who had just been elected to lead Illinois second-largest city the previous year, was participating in the Edgar Fellows program, a five-day executive training designed by the former governor to influence attitudes and foster mutual understanding among emerging Illinois leaders across partisan, ethnic and regional lines.

Irvin so impressed Edgar that he was invited back to speak on a panel of mayors to a future Edgar Fellows class.

But one impression that was not immediately clear to the former Republican governor was that Irvin, who holds a nonpartisan office, was himself a Republican.

Former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar speaks during an event inCharleston in 2011.

I was impressed withhim, but I guess I thought he was a Democrat, Edgar told me in an interview Tuesday. And I think that's going to be probably the major challenge for him is to convince Republicans that he's a Republican. Time will tell whether thats going to happen or not.

Irvin announced his campaign for the Republican nomination for governor on Monday. He is running as part of a slate of candidates recruited by ex-staffers of former Gov. Bruce Rauner and former Sen. Mark Kirk and expected to be funded by billionaire Ken Griffin and other large donors.

Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin speaks during a news conference, Feb. 15, 2019. Mayor Irvin joined the gubernatorial fray on Monday, entering the race as a Republican challenging incumbent Democrat J.B. Pritzker.

They believe they found their man in Irvin, an Army veteran and former prosecutor who would be the states first African American governor, if elected.

However, the take on Irvin and the GOP slate that I wanted to hear most was from Edgar, who knows a thing or two about winning elections as a Republican in a blue state.

After all, he was the last Republican to be reelected to a second term as governor of Illinois. He also left office extremely popular so much so that the national party twice attempted to recruit him to run for U.S. Senate.

Edgars successor, Republican Gov. George Ryan, on the other hand, opted not to run for reelection and left office under the cloud of scandal, which eventually led to federal corruption charges and a stint in prison.

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner was defeated by Pritzker in 2018 after four years marred by fights with legislative Democrats and a more than two-year budget impasse.

The party is now shut out of all statewide offices and is toiling away in the superminority in the General Assembly.

So, I called Edgar on Tuesday to ask for his thoughts on Irvin and the slate, which includes state Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Morrisonville, for lieutenant governor; state Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, for treasurer; lawyer Steve Kim for attorney general; former U.S. Attorney John Milhiser for secretary of state; and McHenry County Auditor Shannon Teresi for comptroller.

State Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Litchfield, speaks at Republicans Day at the Illinois State Fair on Aug. 19, 2021.

It'll be interesting to see how the party receives that, Edgar told me. But, the candidates seem like they're legitimate candidates. I mean, I think they bring something to the table and if Griffin's coming through with the money, money is really important in a primary.

If he's going to fund these campaigns, that will definitely give them a leg up, Edgar said. Now the drawback, though, is people are going to say, 'well, they're all going to be his puppet,' and they're going to have to handle that charge, particularly in the governor's race.

Irvins announcement featured a tough-on-crime message that played up his background as a prosecutor and his record on the issue as mayor of Aurora.

Ive seen it up close. Defund the police is dumb, dangerous and it costs lives. And I believe that all lives matter. Every family should be safe, Irvin said. My city is now safe, stronger and full of opportunity. I want that for Illinois.

However, Irvin has pulled Democratic primary ballots in several recent elections and is on tape praising Pritzkers pandemic response just within the past year. Its led some to question his conservative bonafides.

In a sense, Irivin is somewhat of a blank slate regardless as running a city is not inherently the most partisan endeavor. Theres no such thing as Republican potholes or Democratic streetlights.

However, this may play to his advantage in a general election, Edgar said, noting the importance of Republicans winning back moderates in the Chicago suburbs.

I do think that he would make a viable candidate if he can get past the primary in the fall, Edgar said. The fact that he seems somewhat moderate; he's well funded; he's African American, so perhaps he can pull over some African American votes, which are really the key to the Democrats in Illinois.

But the Republicans, I think, have to realize that they've got to win a lot of independents and moderate Republicans back and maybe what I call 'thoughtful Democrats.' And you can't go too far to the right to do that, Edgar continued. That's why Irvin would have a good shot because I think he will undoubtedly be perceived more in the middle than he will be to the far right.

But even if Irvin emerges from the GOP primary, it will be an uphill climb in the general election, Edgar said.

Well, I think an incumbent governor has the advantage going into an election should have the advantage unless they've been a terrible governor, Edgar said. And I don't think Pritzker has been a terrible governor. I mean, he's had some tough things to deal with, particularly the virus.

Though Pritzkers poll numbers could be better, particularly among independents, Edgar thinks he is the favorite going into this race as the incumbent and with his unlimited financial resources. But, Irvin would give Republicans a fighting chance that other candidates would not, he said.

Again, I still think Pritzker would be the favorite, but I think it would be a race," Edgar said. "Whereas some of these other primary candidates, I'm not sure that it would be viewed as a strong race at that point.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during Governor's Day at the Illinois State Fair in August.

The other Republican candidates for governor are state Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia; businessman Gary Rabine; former state Sen. Paul Schmipf, R-Waterloo; and venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan.

Edgar acknowledged that it's tougher than it used to be to win as a Republican in Illinois, but it's possible, he said, if the party can win back voters in the suburbs and exurbs of Chicago who may have been turned off by Rauner and former President Donald Trump.

If Biden's numbers don't get better, even though he's not on the ballot, it still has an impact on how people vote to some extent, Edgar said. In the suburbs, particularly. The suburbs swing more than any other part of the state.

GOP governor candidate Richard Irvin heads a slate assembled to attract backing from investment firm founder Ken Griffin, the states wealthiest person.

And, even if Irvin does not win, having a moderate candidate at the top of the ballot may help suburban House and Senate candidates down ballot. And, it could allow other members of the slate an opportunity to win.

Milhiser would perhaps be in the best position as hes running for an open position.

Edgar, a former secretary of state himself, said an incumbent has a huge advantage in that office. So not having an incumbent does make it a more level playing field.

That, I think, could be a very interesting race, it could be a close race, Edgar said. And this is the chance for the Republicans to get that office. Historically that's been a good office to have It's been a good stepping stone.

Undoubtedly, the Republican Party has changed since Edgar, a pro-choice moderate, held office.

Still, hes the most successful living former Republican statewide official. At the very least, his two cents is worth listening to as Republicans decide who they may support in the June primary, which is only 160 days away.

There was perhaps no more consequential task this year than ensuring the successful rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, which could allow a relative return to normalcy should enough residents take their shots.After an initial phased rollout, vaccines became available to all Illinoisans in mid-April.The state peaked at 167,422 shots in arms on April 9. As of Dec. 23, more than 60% of the states population is fully vaccinated, including nearly 68% of Illinoisans five or older. But hesitancy remains high in conservative portions of the state, where rates significantly lag the state as a whole. This and the emergence of new variants have kept the state from turning the page. Just this week, a single-day record for new cases was reached, which has cities like Chicago considering the implementation of proof of vaccination for entry into certain public places like bars or restaurants.

Illinois, long the poster child for fiscal irresponsibility,received its first credit rating upgrades in more than 20 years in 2021.It represents a remarkable reversal from 2017, when years of unbalanced budgets, pension holidays and ultimately going more than two years without a spending plan, placed the state just one notch above junk status. But, with a few years of relative budget stability, enhanced tax revenue and federal COVID-19 relief funds, the states fiscal picture is better than it has been in a long time. Illinois still has the lowest bond rating of any state in the country and fiscal challenges remain on the horizon, but it is worth noting some good news, for a change.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation that amends the states sports betting law that will finally allow bets to be made on in-state college sports teams while lifting the ban on online registration starting in March 2022. The former was an annoyance, especially as the Illinois and Loyola mens basketball teams faced off in March Madness.The latter was an impediment to the continued growth of Illinois industry since the vast majority of bets are placed online.The state has a top five sports betting handle in the country, which is now expected to grow with the changes enacted.

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Edgar 'impressed' with Irvin, but initially 'thought he was a Democrat' - The Pantagraph

The federal voting rights legislation also would have contained funding for election administration processes, including automatic voter registration. Without it, election officials say they will be hamstrung in training staff members and buying needed equipment, running the risk of disruptions. Hundreds of officials from 39 states sent a letter to Mr. Biden on Thursday asking for $5 billion to buy and fortify election infrastructure for the next decade. The letter was organized by a group largely funded by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks founder and chief executive.

Despite that need, at least 12 states have passed laws preventing nongovernmental groups from financing election administration a wide-reaching legislative response to false right-wing suspicions that $350 million donated for that purpose by another organization with ties to Mr. Zuckerberg was used to increase Democratic turnout. (The money mainly covered administrative expenses, including safety gear for poll workers, and was distributed to both Republican and Democratic jurisdictions.)

Some Democrats and civil rights leaders say they fear that the failure of Democrats in Washington to enact a federal voting law could depress turnout among Black voters the same voters the party will spend the coming months working to organize.

Voting rights is seen by Black voters as a proxy battle about Black issues, said Mr. Paultre, in Florida. The Democratic Party is going to be blamed.

In Texas, whose March 1 primary will be the first of the midterms, some results of the sweeping new voting law passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature last year are already clear. In populous counties such as Harris, Bexar, Williamson and Travis, as many as half of absentee ballot applications have been rejected so far because voters did not comply with new requirements, such as providing a drivers license number or a partial Social Security number.

In Harris County the states largest, which includes Houston roughly 16 percent of ballot applications have been rejected because of the new rules, a sevenfold increase over 2018, according to Isabel Longoria, a Democrat who is the countys elections administrator. About one in 10 applications did not satisfy the new identification requirements, she said.

In Travis County, home to Austin, about half of applications received have been rejected because of the new rules, officials said. Were now seeing the real-life actual effect of the law, and, ladies and gentlemen, it is voter suppression, said Dana DeBeauvoir, a Democrat who oversees elections there as county clerk.

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With Voting Rights Bill Dead, Democrats Face Costly Fight to Overcome GOP Curbs - The New York Times

Gov. Phil Murphy is getting a second shot at heading the Democratic Governors Association.

Murphy will serve as vice chairman in 2022, and in 2023 will head the national group that works to elect and re-elect Democratic governors across the country, the DGA announced Saturday. He was previously chairman of the DGA in 2020.

Murphy has already been elected as vice chairman of the National Governors Association, the umbrella organization representing all governors, next year and will be the NGA chairman in 2023.

Only three states Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi have gubernatorial races in 2023. But Murphy has the potential for an oversized role as vice chairman next year because the incoming chairman, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, has a Republican lieutenant governor and GOP-controlled state Legislature, meaning its unlikely hell be spending much time out of his state.

With 36 governors races next year, we believe our Democratic incumbents are in a strong position for re-election, and we have multiple opportunities to flip Republican seats, Murphy said in a statement from the DGA.

I look forward to working with Gov. Cooper to ensure the DGA has the resources necessary to be competitive everywhere, so we can continue to emphasize how Democratic governors deliver on the kitchen table issues that directly impact Americans daily lives.

Former Gov. Chris Christie held the same role when he was in office for the Republican Governors Association. He used the position to crisscross the country in the lead up to his failed presidential campaign.

Murphy criticized how his predecessor spent so much time out of state when he headed the RGA and said he planned to do less travel. He ultimately ended up nearly not leaving the state at all in 2020 after New Jersey had its first recorded case of the coronavirus in March of that year.

Nonetheless, Murphy broke fundraising records for the DGA during that time.

When about travel for the DGA at his coronavirus briefing in Trenton on Monday, Murphy said he wont let the job affect his governorship.

My nose is pressed against the New Jersey glass, he said. As much as I feel strongly weve got something to add to the DGA, well do it in a way that works for New Jersey. Thats something we never violate.

Murphy said he was able to do the job largely on the phone or virtually last time he held the position.

This all comes a little more than a month after Murphy was re-elected governor by a closer-than-expected margin over Republican Jack Ciattarelli amid a surge in Republican turnout. Nonetheless, Murphy became the first Democrat re-elected New Jerseys governor since 1977.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.

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Murphy getting another shot to lead Democratic governors group - NJ.com

Administration officials such as Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack are now fanning out to rural areas to explain the benefits. Local Democrats are campaigning in districts like this corner of southwest Wisconsin along the Mississippi River that once swung for Barack Obama and has been trending redder and redder ever since.

But as local voters who are overwhelmingly white, blue-collar workers increasingly disagree with Democrats on cultural issues, GOP arguments against government spending are resonating, making it difficult for the White House's messaging to stick.

Money for roads, broadband, thats a big deal, said Gary Weber, a dairy farmer who voted for Biden. But people around here think its a bunch of wasteful welfare. Theyve got to convince people this is for the average person and not big companies.

Gary Weber, a dairy farmer outside Rockland, Wis., voted for Joe Biden in 2020. | Kris Litscher Lee

White House officials, who as recently as this summer argued Biden could go anywhere and engage voters, even in rural communities, privately acknowledge his policies have yet to move the needle with rural voters as Republicans hammer the administration over rising inflation.

Hes got a big job on his hands because people hate him for no reason, Weber said of Biden.

Biden narrowly won Wisconsin in 2020. While he performed slightly better than Hillary Clinton did with rural voters in 2016, Biden lost almost every rural county in the state. Democrats cant afford to fall further behind in rural areas like these, where small margins could determine critical races across the country next year including Wisconsins 3rd Congressional District and the Senate race.

Millions in federal aid from Democrats' pandemic relief law have already reached small communities in southwest Wisconsin. The money has helped local governments keep schools open and respond to Covid-19. Nearly $30 million is helping to keep rural health care facilities running.

And families with two children under the age of 17, for instance, have likely received federal stimulus checks and monthly child tax credit payments this year totaling around $12,000.

The White House criticized efforts to detract from those gains.

The latest climate and social spending bill, which aims to extend the child tax credit, is an economic growth plan that will cut the biggest costs rural families face, said White House deputy press secretary Chris Meagher. By opposing [the plans], the GOP is voting to raise families biggest costs, hike taxes on the middle class, and worsen inflation all to protect tax breaks for the wealthy.

Democrats in Congress, who fought for the funding and argue its helping families address rising costs, acknowledge that many people dont know its something Democrats championed.

No one really connects it, even though they're getting the checks, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said in an interview. As in Wisconsin, Browns state has pockets of small communities that once voted Democratic but have since turned deep red.

Former President Donald Trumps lingering influence is hard to miss across this county of rolling farmland and small villages in southwest Wisconsin. Trump won flags are still everywhere.

The districts longtime Rep. Ron Kind, one of the remaining farm-district centrist Democrats in Congress, barely survived reelection last year. Kind has since announced hes not seeking another term.

Rep. Ron Kind appears at a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. | AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

Republican leaders in the area are railing against Bidens Covid-19 public health mandates while embracing ongoing investigations into false election fraud claims in the 2020 election.

Democrats who will face off in a primary next August to replace Kind have been trying to navigate how they talk to voters about their party's plans, despite Bidens claims that his climate and social spending bill is paid for in part by raising taxes on the wealthy.

There is recognition in this district for the need for broadband, for child care, for job training programs, for transportation. That is all that's very real, said Brad Pfaff, a Democratic state senator who grew up on a farm in the area and is running in the primary for the open seat. And you know, people have shared that, but they also recognize the fact that money is not unlimited.

Local Democratic organizers are not convinced that the investments, while historic, will be able to slow the shifting electorate.

What we do with messaging and policy making and all that, of course, influences people, said Wayde Lawler, chair of the Democratic Party in Vernon County, the districts most competitive rural county. But its by no means the only determining factor.

Many voters in the area, like Sharon Stroh who voted enthusiastically for Obama in 2008, are full-time Trump supporters now. Stroh doesnt doesnt ever plan to vote for a Democrat again no matter how much money they invest in her village of Wilton, population 500, which is slated to receive more than $400,000 in pandemic relief funding.

Millions more are on the way from the infrastructure law to maintain roads, replace lead pipes and provide high-speed, rural broadband internet, all of which Biden and Democrats have touted as game changers for rural communities.

We don't need to print any more money, Stroh said. Obama talked about being shovel ready and all that. That was a bunch of crap.

Stroh acknowledged money for new roads in her area would be nice, and even create some jobs, but shes more concerned about her granddaughter learning what she described as too much about gender identity and race in her school in the Madison area, the states capital and a Democratic stronghold.

She plans to vote for Derrick Van Orden, the Trump-backed Republican who narrowly lost to Kind last year. Van Orden, who has been campaigning across the district's small communities for months, traveled to the Stop the Steal rally in Washington on Jan. 6, before the Capitol attack occurred.

Democrats have called for Van Ordens disqualification following reports that he entered Capitol grounds during the riot. Van Orden denies that. But some voters, like Stroh, say they would support him either way.

As local Democrats try to push back, theyre simply overwhelmed.

Like many Democrats on the ground in rural areas, Mary Von Ruden, chair of the local party in Monroe County, said national Democrats havent dedicated the necessary resources to these areas for years. That makes it even harder to address voters' genuine concerns about the spending while pushing back against misinformation, Von Ruden said.

They dont understand that if they come out here, theyre going to make a difference, said Von Ruden, who at 70 years old, often knocks doors by herself across miles of farmland and small towns. Its a monumental task, she said of the challenges facing Democrats in her area.

Democrats' last hope for holding the district and their remaining footholds in rural America is a small sliver of rural voters whom they still might be able to persuade.

I don't think anybody expects the rural areas to go Democratic, said Brian Rude, a former Republican state legislator whose small village of Coon Valley voted for both Biden and Kind in 2020. But there's enough voters on the edge perhaps some undecideds, some moderate Republicans, independents, some old-fashioned Democrats who can on occasion be brought back.

Meanwhile in Washington, Democratic lawmakers are anxious to pass their social spending and climate bill as quickly as possible so they can hit the road themselves to explain the plans and push back on the GOP ahead of next years midterms.

Republicans face a real challenge in rural Wisconsin explaining to people why they oppose delivering results that make a real difference in peoples lives, said Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsins Democratic senator.

Just to the south from Kinds district, Rep. Cheri Bustos, former chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is also retiring from her swing seat in rural Illinois as Democrats continue to lose rural incumbents. Bustos acknowledged cultural issues remain a challenge for the party and said she hopes the investments will demonstrate Democrats commitment to helping people in rural America and every part of the country.

At the very least, Bustos said, I hope this will help regain some trust.

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Bidens rural investments run up against the culture wars in Wisconsin - POLITICO

Although now-President Joe Biden enjoyed a decisive victory over former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, Democrats had their share of disappointments in down-ballot races last year including centrist Democrat Steve Bullock's loss to Republican incumbent Sen. Steve Daines' inMontana's U.S. Senate race. Bullock, reflecting on the 2020 and 2021 elections, has awarning for fellow Democratsin an op-ed published by the New York Times this week: the Democratic Party has a problem with rural voters, and it isn't getting any better.

Bullock has a track record in Montana politics. Despite being a Democrat in a deep red state, he served as Montana attorney general before serving two terms as governor. But when he tried to unseat Daines in 2020, he lost by 11%.

"The Democrats are in trouble in Rural America," Bullock warns, "and their struggles there could doom the party in 2022. The warning signs were already there in 2020 when Democrats fell short in congressional and state races despite electing Joe Biden president. I know because I was on the ballot for U.S. Senate and lost."

The November 2021 election, Bullock adds, brought Democrats some more disappointments.

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"In this year's governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey," Bullock notes, "we saw the Democratic vote in rural areas plummet, costing the party one seat and nearly losing us the other. It was even worse for Democrats down ballot, as Democrats lost state legislative, county, and municipal seats."

Bullock stresses that Democrats have a major image problem in rural areas of the United States.

"It's never easy for Democrats to get elected in Montana, because Democrats here are running against not only the opponent on the ballot, but also, against conservative media's and at times, our own typecast of the national Democratic brand: coastal, overly educated, elitist, judgmental, socialist, a bundle of identity groups and interests lacking any shared principles," Bullock laments. "The problem isn't the candidates we nominate. It's the perception of the party we belong to."

RELATED:America's embittered rural-urban divide breaks down when it comes to diseases of despair

Bullock doesn't believe that Rural America is a lost cause for Democrats, but he argues that they need to do a better job with their rural outreach.

He explained:

We need to frame our policies, not in terms of grand ideological narratives, but around the material concerns of voters. Despite our differences and no matter where we live, we generally all want the same things: a decent job, a safe place to call home, good schools, clean air and water, and the promise of a better life for our kids and grandkids.

For me, that meant talking about Obamacare not as an entitlement, but as a way to save rural hospitals and keep local communities and small businesses afloat. It meant talking about expanding apprenticeships, not just lowering the costs of college. It meant framing public lands as a great equalizer and as a driver for small business. It meant talking about universal pre-K not as an abstract policy goal, but being essential for our children and for keeping parents in the work force. It meant talking about climate change not just as a crisis, but as an opportunity to create good jobs, preserve our outdoor heritage, and as a promise not to leave communities behind.

"It's time for Democrats to get uncomfortable and go beyond friendly urban and suburban settings to hear directly from folks in small towns who are trying to run a business, pay the bills, and maintain access to health care," Bullock advises. "They have stories to tell and ideas to share, and we should listen."

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Montana Democrat sounds the alarm on his party's "doom" in rural America but has an idea to fix it - Salon