Name: Pritzker says it’s time for House Speaker Michael Madigan to be replaced as head of Illinois Democrats
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Pritzker says it’s time for House Speaker Michael Madigan to be replaced as head of Illinois Democrats

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AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneNov 06, 2020 at 7:14 pmAfter the defeat of his signature policy initiative at the polls this week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday said Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan should no longer be in charge of the state Democratic Party.The powerful Southwest Side Democrat was quick to respond, issuing a statement saying that he’s not going anywhere.AdvertisementAlthough Pritzker previously has said Madigan should answer questions about Commonwealth Edison’s admission that it engaged in a yearslong bribery scheme to try to win the speaker’s favor, the governor has stopped short of questioning his party chairmanship.Pritzker’s comments came after U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin told WTTW-Ch. 11 in an interview Wednesday that he believes both the governor’s graduated-rate income tax proposal and down-ballot Democratic candidates suffered on Tuesday because of Madigan’s continued role as party chairman.AdvertisementAs they have in every election in recent memory, Illinois Republicans ran campaigns up and down the ballot painting Madigan as the real opponent. While the strategy hasn’t always paid off, the ongoing federal corruption probe circling Madigan — who has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing — may have given their argument new resonance with voters this year.With some observers anticipating Democrats could add to their 74-44 majority in the Illinois House, unofficial results suggest the GOP may make a net gain of two seats.“Candidates who had little or no connection with him whatsoever were being tarred as Madigan allies who are behind corruption and so forth and so on,” said Durbin, who won a fifth term on Tuesday. “It was really disconcerting to see the price that we paid on that. I hope he takes that to heart and understands that his presence as chairman of our party has not helped.”While Durbin didn’t directly call for Madigan to resign, Pritzker was asked at his daily coronavirus briefing Thursday whether he agrees “with Sen. Durbin that we need new leadership at the party.”“Yes,” Pritzker said.Pritzker sidestepped an initial question about whether Madigan’s leadership and his role in the federal investigation contributed to the defeat of the graduated income tax.“Opponents were able to tap into voters' concerns about corruption and their lack of trust in government," said Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune. “The Republicans and the billionaires that sided with them were effectively able to use the speaker as their foil, and that hurt our ability, our state’s ability, to get things done.”Madigan has been under fire from many within his own party since federal prosecutors in July released a deferred prosecution agreement in which ComEd admitted awarding jobs, payments and contracts to Madigan associates in an attempt to win his support for favorable legislation.AdvertisementPrompted by a petition from House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, the chamber convened a special committee to investigate Madigan’s role and whether he should face potential discipline. Republicans on the committee have accused Democrats of stonewalling, and a hearing scheduled for Thursday was canceled.Last month, Democratic state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit of Oswego said she would run to replace Madigan as House speaker.She is among a handful of House Democrats who have called for Madigan to resign as party chairman, speaker or both, though no legislators have publicly supported Kifowit as their choice to replace him. Some Democrats in the state Senate and other offices also have called for Madigan to step down.Democratic state Rep. Kelly Cassidy of Chicago, one of the members of Madigan’s caucus who have called for him to step down from both his legislative and political leadership posts, said she agreed that the speaker had a negative impact on Democratic candidates and initiatives on Tuesday and that a change was needed.“The reality is in his dual roles as both speaker and party chair, it’s become a distinction without a difference, right? He is the face of our party. He is the face of our caucus. And that has been used effectively against a lot of folks that unfortunately did, as Sen. Durbin put it, paid a very heavy price,” Cassidy told Illinois Public Radio’s “The 21st” show.“This is now a question for lots of other folks to answer. Come January we will have to vote for our choice for speaker and I’ve already made clear I have no intention of voting for him as speaker again as have a fair number of others and I expect we’ll start to hear from more who want us to be able to move forward as we head into a session where we’ve got a lot of problems to solve,” she said.AdvertisementMadigan, who has been speaker for all but two years since 1983 and was elected without opposition to his 26th term in the House on Tuesday, said he has no plans to step aside.“I am proud of my record electing Democrats who support workers and families and represent the diversity of our state,” he said in a statement. "Together, we have successfully advanced progressive policies that have made Illinois a strong Democratic state with supermajorities in the legislature."Illinois is the anchor in the ‘blue wall’ that has been reconstructed in the Midwest, and I look forward to continuing our fight for working families as chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois.”Republicans weren’t rushing to welcome Pritzker to their cause. Illinois GOP Chairman Tim Schneider, who has regularly pushed the Democratic governor to issue a stronger response about Madigan, called Pritzker’s comments a “cop-out.”Schneider said a Madigan departure as Democratic chairman would be a “superficial and political demotion” that does nothing to “end Madigan’s reign of corruption as speaker of the House.”dpetrella@chicagotribune.comAdvertisementrap30@aol.com Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneNov 06, 2020 at 7:14 pmAfter the defeat of his signature policy initiative at the polls this week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday said Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan should no longer be in charge of the state Democratic Party.The powerful Southwest Side Democrat was quick to respond, issuing a statement saying that he’s not going anywhere.AdvertisementAlthough Pritzker previously has said Madigan should answer questions about Commonwealth Edison’s admission that it engaged in a yearslong bribery scheme to try to win the speaker’s favor, the governor...

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Dan Petrella

Rick Pearson

The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are named), it remains the most-read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. It had the 6th highest circulation for American newspapers in 2017.

Pritzker says it’s time for House Speaker Michael Madigan to be replaced as head of Illinois Democrats

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