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 Illinois election law allows corrupt politicians to run for office after being
convicted, but state Rep. Curtis Tarver II, D-Chicago, has introduced a bill to
correct that.
Only politicians convicted of election fraud are prohibited from running for
state office. Tarver’s bill explicitly bans any person convicted of a felony
while holding office from running for office at any level of government.
The bill was introduced days after state Sen. Tom Cullerton pleaded guilty to
federal embezzlement charges. While Cullerton resigned, he could legally run
again for the same Senate seat.
“It makes no sense,” Tarver said to Politico’s Illinois Playbook. He said every
other state bans officials from running for office based on their criminal
record, not the office they’re seeking.
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At the local level, city and county politicians
cannot run for office if they’ve been convicted. Because of his
recent conviction for federal tax fraud, Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson
is prohibited from running for city office, but he can still seek
state office.
In the past 20 years, corruption has cost Illinois taxpayers over
$10.6 billion in lost economic growth. That’s more than $830 per
Illinoisan. Illinois is ranked as the nation’s second-most corrupt
state.
The General Assembly passed new ethics reforms to root out
corruption in 2021, but more structural change is needed. Tarver’s
bill is a solid step in tackling Illinois’ long history of
corruption. |
