A Southern Illinois attorney that has made a name for taking on Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Covid mitigations and the school mask mandate has informally announced he’s seeking a higher office.
Thomas DeVore appears poised to seek the Republican nomination for the Illinois Attorney General’s office. According to the Cook County Record, DeVore has begun distributing petitions to supporters to place his name on the ballot in June.
DeVore made the announcement in a live-stream video Monday night on his Facebook Page. DeVore said he decided to opt for the higher office after hearing stories from young children around the state after he secured a temporary restraining order against the governor’s school mask mandate earlier this month.
DeVore had initially signed on to run in the Republican primary for a spot on the 5th Appellate Court but says the stories compelled him to aim higher to protect the people of Illinois: “I said to myself ‘I can’t sit by and do nothing,’ and these children have convinced me of that. So I’m like, ‘What can I do?’ And I made the decision that there is only one way that I can help, and that’s making myself available to the people of this state as Attorney General. I don’t know if I’m the right guy for the job. Only you guys know if I’m the right guy for the job, but I do know that we have to have somebody in that position that is going to stand up for the people. When you have a choice as an attorney, as any attorney, let alone the Attorney General of this state…when you have a choice between defending someone against the people – you always choose the people!”
DeVore said prior to his announcement that he was mostly apolitical, but that his views align with Republicans. He said he only chose to get involved in politics to help people and as a means to help people.
In announcing his candidacy for Attorney General, DeVore will oppose attorney Steve Kim, a Rockford lawyer and former candidate for Illinois Lieutenant Governor, in the Republican primary in June.
Kim is believed to have been selected for the race as part of a slate of statewide candidates, along with gubernatorial candidate Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, who is financially backed by billionaire Ken Griffin, in the race against unseating Pritzker.
It is not known if DeVore would also be part of a rival slate of Republican candidates, led by State Senator Darren Bailey of Xenia, and potentially backed by billionaire Richard “Dick” Uihlein, who recently donated $1 million to Bailey’s gubernatorial campaign.
DeVore said in the video yesterday that he plans to make a formal public announcement in Springfield on Monday at a public event.