Dupage Policy Journal

On Oct. 29, the campaign for Terra Costa Howard, the Democrat from Glen Ellyn challenging incumbent State. Rep. Peter Breen, accepted a massive $750,000 donation from Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, campaign records with the Illinois State Board of Elections show.

The boost to Howard just days before the Nov. 6 elections gives her campaign $1,529,085.81 in donations from Madigan-controlled accounts since early July.

The sheer amount of Madigan money accepted by Howard — unprecedented for a candidate in the 48th — has some local residents questioning how the Democrat can be as independent as she has repeatedly claimed.

“She told me face-to-face that she is independent,” said Lombard resident Amy LeBeau. “She told the Glen Ellyn League of Women Voters she is independent. And she has it all over her social media. Tell me how someone can accept so much money from Madigan and keep claiming she’s independent, that she hasn’t been bought by him.”

The donations to Howard and other Democratic House candidates are all part of Madigan’s strategy for staying in power, according to an analysis of Democratic House races by the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI). 

IPI reports that over the course of their careers in the General Assembly, more than 60 sitting state representatives have received nearly $15 million from Madigan’s campaign committees, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections. (The total is even higher now; the IPI story was published in early September.)

“Those representatives have collectively cast 281 votes for Madigan for Speaker,” IPI’s Austin Berg and Chris Lentino wrote in the article titled “Did Your State Representative Take Madigan Money?”

“One of the main avenues through which Madigan maintains that power is through his role as chairman of several campaign committees that give money directly to other state representatives,” they wrote. “These lawmakers, in turn, give Madigan what he wants on a crucial vote every two years: the vote for House Speaker.”

Jay Young, executive director, Common Cause Illinois, said that the state’s Election Code has major flaws, despite the changes to it after the scandals surrounding former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The law, he said, favors legislative leaders “who have the option of dumping huge amounts of money into these local statehouse races to dramatically enhance the future of the favored candidate.”

Young estimates there are 39 House races with more than a million dollars spent; 14 races with more than $2 million spent and six with more than $3 million spent.

“This year is a bit odd because of all of the moderate Republicans that retired so there are more competitive races,” he said. “But, in past years, you would see a number of multi-million dollar uncontested races, which posed a huge barrier to entry for folks in that district.”

Glen Ellyn resident Marie Lupo likewise says the Madigan money makes it impossible for Howard to be the independent candidate she claims.

“This is Illinois,” she wrote in an email.  “We know how Madigan operates: When he needs her vote he will tap her and get it—or else she’s out. Plain and simple: A vote for Terra Costa Howard is a vote for Madigan. That’s why he funds her.”