The Chicago Tribune’s non-endorsement of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan raised some of the same issues the Better Government Association focused on in a news story this past spring.
Here are the first few paragraphs of our report:
When she first won election as Illinois attorney general in 2002, Lisa Madigan told a packed room of supporters: “We will fight . . . corrupt public officials.”
That same year she told an interviewer she would tackle political corruption “even if it involves my father,” Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party.
And her own campaign website still lists “Battling Public Corruption” as a top priority.
But while Lisa Madigan has made a name for herself embracing consumer-oriented causes – taking on, for instance, companies trying to rip off taxpayers – her office has done little to prosecute public corruption in Illinois, at least when it comes to the bigger fish in government, the Better Government Association and FOX 32 found.
Here’s a link to the entire story:
The Trib’s editorial this week echoed many of the same themes on Lisa Madigan. Entitled “Wanted: A public corruption buster,” the editorial says the paper cannot endorse her for another term. Nor does the paper endorse her Republican opponent, Paul Schimpf.
Here’s the link:
Wanted: A public corruption buster
The BGA supports an “all hands on deck” approach to corruption fighting. Lisa Madigan’s critics see her as standing on the dock.
This blog post was written by the Better Government Association’s Robert Herguth, who can be reached at rherguth@bettergov.org or (312) 821-9030.
