Dupage Policy Journal

Republican Congressional candidate Jeanne Ives bemoans what she thinks government in Illinois has deteriorated into.

“We should be able to trust government to be fair and our elected officials to keep power in check,” Ives said. “That isn’t what we have in Illinois, where electoral victory doesn’t mean a chance to enact a policy agenda rooted in first principle, but instead the opportunity to pass out jobs and contracts to your friends and political allies.”

After nearly four decades of being in control in Springfield, Madigan now finds himself at the center of an unfolding federal corruption probe involving ComEd. Federal prosecutors contend the company engaged in a “years-long bribery scheme” involving jobs, contracts and payments that were steered to him in his role as house speaker and chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party.

To date, no charges have been filed against the state’s longest-serving lawmaker, but prosecutors have not been shy in asserting that the utility giant sought to “influence and reward” Madigan by providing financial benefits to those directly tied to him.

Running against U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-Downers Grove) in the 6th Congressional District, Ives argues Democrats’ collective silence about the ongoing probe speaks volumes.

“You can’t trust Illinois prosecutors to stop public corruption,” she said. “Why won’t Democrat leaders root out corruption in their own party?”

Many Republican lawmakers also insist Madigan’s situation screams out for term limits in state government.

“For decades, Madigan has owned the system, the rules, the agenda, the campaign coffers, the relationships, the leverage, the staff, the dirt,” she said. “Democrats themselves will tell you he has been in power far too long. Their deep embarrassment now in doing nothing despite serious corruption allegations is the naked admission voters already know: He owns them.”