Mike Strick, the Illinois Republican candidate for House District 84, has been a vocal critic of House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Dist. 22).
The small business owner feels that Madigan should no longer be appointed Speaker and has put his money where his mouth is: He has created a website vowing to not vote for Madigan’s reappointment, and he is asking others to do the same.
“I made a new website called NoMoreMadigan.com,” Strick said. “It’s getting a lot of traction right now. I sent a letter to all the candidates for Illinois State Representative and I asked these candidates to sign a pledge that they will not vote for Mike Madigan or appoint Madigan to be Speaker of the House again.”
The site, which can be found here, asks candidates to pledge to the citizens of their district that they will refuse to vote for Madigan, a Democrat. Said candidates are allowed to vote for anyone else, be it Democrat or Republican. Strick created the pledge because he feels that Madigan has halted progress in his 41 years in office.
“Mike Madigan has been in office for 41 years now,” Strick said. "He has been the Speaker of the House for 31 years. Nothing in our state gets approved without Madigan liking it, otherwise he just sends it to his rules committee and they go over it and it dies. What we need is no more Madigan.”
The Republican hopeful insisted that the problematic situation the state faces is a direct result of Madigan and his stranglehold in Springfield.
“I really believe that Illinois is in a dire situation and it has been the result of Madigan and his 31 years as Speaker of the House,” Strick said. “All of our financial concerns are caused by him and his unlimited power. It’s just time to have Mike Madigan not be the King of Illinois anymore because he is the most powerful man in Illinois.”
Strick asserted that even Gov. Bruce Rauner’s influence is minimal compared to “King" Madigan.
“Even though Mr. Bruce Rauner is our governor, I think Mike Madigan wields more power,” Strick said. “People need to realize that everything goes through the House of Representatives. It’s not Gov. Rauner who writes policies or laws. He can either sign it or veto it or do a line item veto on it. That is the only thing that Gov. Rauner can do. Everything comes from King Madigan.”
The candidate said he finds it peculiar that while the governor, House of Representative and the Senate members are elected by the people, the Speaker of the House is appointed by the elected representatives.
“These people are enabling Madigan to run Illinois into the ground,” Strick said. “We need those newly elected people to sign this pledge (promising) they will not vote for Mike Madigan and they have their choice to either vote for a Republican, Independent or Democrat. Anybody else other than Mike Madigan.”
Strick said he hopes voters understand the full consequences of Madigan’s influence.
“(Madigan) is longest serving politician in the nation,” Strick said. “In the nation. He started in 1971 at the age of 29. He has so much control over the state because he is being appointed by all the people beholden to him to stay in power.”
All these people under Madigan’s long reach are the reason why Strick supports term limits. Strick said that term limits will bring an end to political corruption and career politicians. The business owner asserted that holding an office in Springfield should be for the service of the people and not for career prospects.
This is also a main reason why Strick supported the redistricting efforts, which were blocked recently by Cook County Circuit Judge Diane Larsen. Strick asserted that it was Madigan who shot down these efforts and left it to die. He said he thinks it unjust that certain districts have more sway than others due to the current mapping system. It is not reflective of the voters and their representation.
“(For example) I read that Chicago, based on its population, should only have 15 House reps but I think, based on the current mapping process, Chicago has 19 or 22,” Strick said. “I just don’t think it’s fair to the rest of the state for Chicago to have so much power.”
The Republican candidate said he believes in fairness. He said he believes that Illinois can get better.
That is the reason why he has relentlessly knocked on doors and walked the campaign trail; however, it is not all roses and sunshine, he insinuated.
“Nobody knows the essence of what I am and yet they based their assumption that, because I am a Republican, I am a bad guy,” Strick said.
He asserted that, above all the political affiliations, he is first and foremost an Illinoisan concerned about the future of the state.
“I’m just trying to do the right thing,” Strick said. “I’m concerned about Illinois. I’m concerned about the people and jobs leaving the state which put even more burden on the people staying in Illinois.”
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