Southwestern Illinois Democrats mum on Mike Madigan’s future as House speaker
With support for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan waning after another round of indictments in a corruption scandal this week, metro-east Democrats won’t say whether they still back him or not.
The metro-east’s ranking Democrat and party loyalist, Assistant House Majority Leader Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, refused Friday to discuss Madigan’s implication in a federal investigation.
Hoffman, set to begin his fifth term representing the 113th District next year, said he believes the issue is for “internal Democratic Caucus discussion.” He declined to comment on the fact that his name has appeared on lists of possible successors.
Other possible candidates include Kelly M. Burke of Evergreen Park, Kelly Cassidy of Chicago, William Davis of Homewood, Jehan Gordon-Booth of Peoria, Greg Harris of Chicago and Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside, Illinois Playbook reported. State Rep. Stephanie A. Kifowit of Oswego has already said she will challenge Madigan.
The newest indictments allege four high-ranking officials and executives conspired to give jobs, internships and contracts to people close to Madigan in exchange for legislation favorable to Commonwealth Edison, the state’s biggest electric utility.
Madigan has denied any wrongdoing. But as of Friday, 17 of 73 House Democrats have said publicly they would not vote for him as speaker when the new General Assembly is installed in January. The margin is big enough to cost Madigan the 60 votes he needs to retain the post he’s held, with the exception of two years (1995-97), since 1983.
Madigan took the the phones Friday to call lawmakers and said in a statement he continues “to have support from a significant number of House Democratic caucus members,” The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Two other metro-east Democratic lawmakers, state Reps. LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis, and Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
While Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin have both called Madigan out publicly, state House representatives rely on Madigan for getting their bills passed, campaign fundraising and reelection. Pritzker’s personal fortune allows him to remain somewhat financially independent and Durbin, a respected politician with as much if not more name recognition as Madigan, doesn’t need the Chicago powerhouse either.
But rank-and-file Democrats who aren’t independently wealthy or who don’t have as much political clout Madigan have a harder time publicly shunning him.
Madigan may have hurt metro-east Democrats
The metro-east has long ties to the Democratic Party of Illinois. Even after years of redistricting to isolate Republican voters in more rural portions of southwestern Illinois, Democratic candidates are starting to lose ground to the GOP.
The party lost two Democratic representatives on Nov. 3: state Reps. Monica Bristow of Alton and Nathan Reitz of Steeleville. Even the region’s bluest county, St. Clair, saw a 12-point increase in the number of voters favoring the Republican nominee compared to two years ago, according to Illinois State Board of Elections data.
Republicans say voters were fed up with Madigan, even if they previously supported Democrats. Corruption tied to the state’s longest-serving speaker impacted races statewide, Durbin said earlier this month night on Chicago Tonight, a television news program on PBS affiliate WTTW.
Bristow, Reitz, Stuart and Hoffman relied on thousands of dollars in donations from the party’s campaign fund, headed by Madigan. Voters put two and two together, said David Friess, who will replace Reitz as representative of the 116th District.
“I can’t tell you how many times I talked to people and they’ve said, ‘Madigan’s got to go,’” Friess told the Belleville News-Democrat after his 30-point win on Election Day.
The Democrats may have paid the price for their allegiance to the speaker.
Because speakers have extensive powers over what legislation makes it to the floor, the main way metro-east issues can get any attention is through Madigan. Even the conservative Democrat Jerry Costello II, a former state representative who took a state agency appointment in 2019, went for Madigan as speaker.
Metro-east legislators will likely hash out a plan in private with other House Democrats on what to do with Madigan come January. A split between Democrats could mean a Republican becomes speaker. Before they’d allow that, Democrats would be more likely to find an alternative to the Chicago powerhouse.
These are the Democratic representatives who have opposed Madigan publicly:
- Jonathan Carroll, Buffalo Grove
- Kelly Cassidy, Chicago
- Deb Conroy, Villa Park
- Margaret Croke, Oak Park
- Daniel Didech, Buffalo Grove
- Robyn Gabel, Evanston
- Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, Glenview
- Will Guzzardi, Chicago
- Terra Costa Howard, Glen Ellyn
- Stephanie Kifowit, Oswego
- Lindsey LaPointe, Chicago
- Anna Moeller, Elgin
- Bob Morgan, Deerfield
- Anne Stava-Murray, Naperville
- Maurice West, Rockford
- Ann M. Williams, Chicago
- Sam Yingling, Round Lake Beach
This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
