Illinois GOP will ‘hang Madigan around the neck’ of every Democratic campaign this year
Corruption charges released Wednesday against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan could haunt Democratic candidates running for office in southern Illinois this year and going forward, according to a downstate political analyst.
“It reinforces southern Illinois views and prejudices against Chicago and against Madigan, which are now five decades old,” said John Jackson, a visiting professor at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute in Carbondale. “Republicans are going to try to hang Madigan around the neck of every Democrat who runs for office.”
A federal grand jury indicted Madigan, the longest serving state House speaker in American history, on 22 counts of racketeering and bribery charges in connection with an alleged scheme involving utility giant ComEd. The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois said Madigan took advantage of his political power to benefit himself and others.
Downstate Republicans pounced on the accusations, attempting to connect Democrats statewide to the former speaker.
“The people of Illinois have known for years that Madigan was corrupt to his core and that he used state government to benefit himself and his political machine,” U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis said in a statement. “Governor J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Democrats refused to admit this truth publicly because they enabled Madigan’s corruption, and some were complicit in it.”
Illinois Democratic Party Chair state Rep. Robin Kelly of Matteson said Democrats statewide are focused on fighting “for the things all Democrats believe in, including raising wages, lowering costs, defending reproductive choice, protecting the environment, investing in our infrastructure, providing high quality education for all, and more.”
“We will not let actions of the past distract us from our mission in 2022 and beyond,” Kelly said.
Jesse Reising, a Republican candidate for the 13th Congressional District, said Illinois needs “to wipe our state clean of the stained legacy of the corrupt Madigan Machine.”
“That starts with preventing the Madigan Machine’s hand-picked candidate from being elected in Illinois’ gerrymandered thirteenth congressional district,” Reising said, referring to Democratic candidate Nikki Budzinski.
Budzinski said she hopes Madigan “is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“Corruption should be exposed and bad actors held accountable at every level of government,” Budzinski said.
Pritzker sought to rebuke Madigan in a statement.
“Michael Madigan must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Pritzker said. “Ultimately, every person in elected office is responsible for doing the right thing — and not lining their own pockets. I am fully committed to eradicate the scourge of corruption from our political system, and today’s indictment is an important step in cleaning up Illinois.”
Former Republican state Sen. Paul Schimpf of Waterloo, now a gubernatorial candidate, pushed back at the governor’s response.
“No amount of revisionist history gives the Governor the right to clutch his pearls now,” Schimpf said in a statement.
State Rep. Amy Elik, R-Fosterburg, said “it’s time to write a new chapter that begins with stronger ethics reforms to root out corruption in state government.” A Democratic candidate, former East Alton Mayor Joe Silkwood, has announced his plans to run for Elik’s seat.
While there are unidentified individuals listed in the charging documents that outline Madigan’s Chicago-centric alleged conspiracy, they’re unlikely to have a southern Illinois connection, Jackson said.
“He didn’t need southern Illinois to get done what he was doing,” Jackson said.
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 5:31 PM.
