|
 Lawyers for Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan argued in a
court filing that even if he did recruit so-called “sham candidates” to siphon
votes away from 2016 primary challenger Jason Gonzales, such tactics aren’t
against the law.
Gonzales’ lawsuit alleges the speaker abused his political power by planting two
candidates, Grasiela Rodriguez and Joe Barboza, to dilute support among Hispanic
voters.
“But complaints about campaign strategies, even ‘dirty tricks’ that successfully
undermine candidacies, are not actionable in federal court,” Madigan’s lawyers
responded.
In depositions arising from the lawsuit, top political aides for Madigan at the
time have confirmed their roles in recruiting Rodriguez and Barboza to run
against their boss.
“I had asked [Cicero politician] Charlie [Hernandez] to see if Joe [Barboza]
would be interested in running as a Democrat,” said former Madigan political
lieutenant Kevin Quinn in a deposition obtained by the Chicago Tribune. “I had
simply reached out to Charlie to see if Joe had an interest,” he said. “I never
heard back from Charlie.”
Quinn was removed from Madigan’s political operation in 2018 after campaign
worker Alaina Hampton accused Quinn of sexual harassment.
Another Madigan political operative, Shaw Decremer, confirmed in his deposition
that he transported and submitted the necessary signatures for Rodriguez and
Barboza to appear on the ballot.
“Why would you be bringing Grasiela Rodriguez’s petitions who is an opponent of
Michael Madigan to file for her?” Gonzales’ lawyer Tony Peraica asked.
“Because someone asked me to,” Decremer said.
“Who?” Peraica asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t recall,” Decremer said.
Decremer also left Madigan’s operation in 2018 after a state lawmaker accused
him of bullying and “abuse of power.”
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Beyond the Gonzales lawsuit, Madigan has long been
the subject of criticism when it comes to drawing Illinois’
gerrymandered political maps. Madigan first ascended to the
speakership in 1983 on the back of a highly partisan map he helped
draw. And the power of the mapmaking pen has been key to maintaining
his dominance in Springfield. While Republicans had the luck of the
draw following the 1990 census, Madigan drew the map following the
1980, 2000 and 2010 censuses.
Politically drawn maps often result in uncompetitive elections. In
the 2018 election, nearly half of the Illinois House of
Representatives seats were uncontested. In the Illinois Senate, 20
of 39 senators up for election faced no opponent.
During his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, Gov. J.B. Pritzker endorsed
a constitutional amendment allowing an independent redistricting
commission to take control of Illinois mapmaking.
But Pritzker has so far refused to endorse a constitutional
amendment doing just that. Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional
Amendment 4 would create an independent 16-member commission to draw
legislative maps in Illinois. It has attracted 37 Democratic and
Republican senators as sponsors – more than the supermajority vote
needed to pass the amendment out of the Senate.
And Illinois voters have their backs.
A March poll from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern
Illinois University showed 67% of Illinoisans supported a
constitutional amendment to allow an independent commission draw
legislative maps, rather than state lawmakers. Republicans (63%
support), Independents (70%) and Democrats (72%) were all on board.
More than a dozen states have independent redistricting commissions
draw their legislative maps.
Illinoisans want the same. And Pritzker should speak for them.
Months after the 2016 Democratic primary ended, Illinois Policy
Action produced a documentary on Madigan that included an interview
with Gonzales, news footage covering the primary race and footage of
the announcement of Gonzales’ lawsuit. Lawyers for Madigan sought to
depose Illinois Policy Institute employees as part of that lawsuit,
but a judge denied those requests.
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