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 Calls for Michael Madigan to resign as Illinois House speaker
and as chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois are growing louder and more
public after his implication in the Commonwealth Edison bribery scandal. On Aug.
11, 53 Illinois Democrats penned an open letter calling for Madigan’s
resignation from his leadership roles.
Also, a seventh Democratic state representative is now seeking Madigan’s
immediate resignation.
The 53 Democratic leaders from across Illinois published their grievances on the
web. Despite the diversity of thought in their party, the one thing they said
unites them is the belief that “Illinois Democrats are in dire need of new
leadership.”
Many of the state’s most prominent leaders signed onto the letter. They include
former candidate for governor and former state Sen. Daniel Biss, former
gubernatorial candidate Chris Kennedy, Pat Quinn’s Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon among
many current and former Democratic leaders at the local level.
The group stated “it has become clear due to the ongoing corruption scandal that
Michael Madigan’s leadership is threatening Illinois Democrats’ ability to
achieve [our] goals.”
This is the largest group of Democrats yet to call for Madigan’s resignation as
speaker and party leader – a sign his support continues to weaken and is not as
strong as Madigan believes it to be. During the past month, 10 General Assembly
Democrats have called for his resignation, including seven members of the House.
Most recently, state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, added her name
to the list of House members calling for Madigan’s resignation. Gong-Gershowitz
had previously said Madigan should step down if the allegations against him were
true, but is now calling for his resignation without any qualifications.
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“I fully support due process for Speaker Madigan
and anyone else with respect to ongoing criminal investigations.
However, whether someone should retain leadership positions in the
General Assembly and the Illinois Democratic Party is a question of
moral, ethical, and personal judgment, not criminal process.
Leadership is a privilege and we must hold our leaders to a higher
standard,” she said in a statement.
Gong-Gershowitz is a freshman representative and
received nearly $247,000 in campaign contributions from Madigan. She
said she made the decision after hearing concerns from her
constituents. She called Madigan to tell him he’d lost her support.
America’s longest-serving House speaker would lose his majority
support if he loses another eight House Democrats. In 2019, state
Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, D-Naperville, was the lone House Democrat to
vote against Madigan for speaker.
Madigan was implicated in a prosecution agreement with ComEd that
stated political cronies received $1.3 million in contracts and
bribes to curry his favor regarding rate regulations worth over $150
million to the utility. ComEd and Madigan face three lawsuits,
including one for more than $450 million, based on admissions in the
agreement.
Democratic state lawmakers have publicly worried Madigan will hurt
their agenda, especially their “fair tax” proposal on the Nov. 3
ballot. Five lawmakers whose support was key to placing the
referendum on the ballot now are charged or implicated in a
widespread federal corruption probe. The fair tax’s top backer,
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, also faces a federal probe for trying
to dodge $331,000 in property taxes.
Voters need to consider trustworthiness before removing the Illinois
Constitution’s flat tax protection and empowering state lawmakers
with greater authority to say who should be taxed by how much.
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