Only 19 Democrats broke from Madigan. Will his shadow change course of midterm elections?
How long a shadow indicted former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan will cast on the November election depends on whom you ask.
Democratic House members who broke with the powerful Chicagoan, ending his four-decade reign as speaker, said Thursday their actions will resonate with voters.
Numerous Republicans predicted Madigan will be the Achilles' heel of Democratic incumbents who supported him.
And political analysts expect the Madigan factor alone won't make or break a candidate's success at the polls.
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors announced charges against the 79-year-old in a nine-year racketeering and bribery plot that they say enriched him and his cronies. Madigan says he is innocent of any wrongdoing.
State Rep. Sam Yingling of Grayslake was among 19 House Democrats who publicly called for Madigan's ouster in 2020 after utility giant ComEd admitted to bribery and colluding with an official, later identified as the speaker. They voted against his reappointment in January 2021, and "this puts the Democrats in a very solid footing going into the 2022 general election," Yingling said.
"It demonstrates we will not tolerate corruption in the system. Democrats took aggressive and proactive steps to remove him from the speakership and (Republicans) did nothing."
Yes, some Democrats were "very vocal" about wanting Madigan gone, Republican Sen. Don DeWitte of St. Charles said. "Those that didn't, or chose to support the speaker's reelection, will be subject to voter scrutiny as to what their motivations may actually be."
GOP lieutenant governor candidate Aaron Del Mar said those Democrats "should be held accountable for enabling him."
"They cheated the people of Illinois by being complicit with his actions," said Del Mar, Palatine Township Highway commissioner.
When lawmakers bucked Madigan's four decades of iron control, "there was an enormous amount of pressure brought to bear to disintegrate the 19 and pick members off," Yingling said.
Democratic Rep. Terra Costa Howard of Glen Ellyn was among the first to speak out in the summer of 2020 and described bullying by groups and individuals allied with Madigan.
She recalled "often getting calls from people who you thought you had a good relationship with telling you, 'Your political career is over.'"
The payback included losing major labor union donations and bills getting stalled by colleagues. "People who may have come and helped you in 2018 turned their backs on you in 2020," Costa Howard said.
State Rep. Fred Crespo of Hoffman Estates had supported Madigan.
"The things he's been indicted on a charge of, there's no mistaking they're wrong," Crespo said Thursday. "The sad thing is there's no end to the issues of bad behavior in Illinois politics. You see it in Chicago and the suburbs. Democrats and Republicans."
When he first came to Springfield, Crespo said he was surprised by how divided Democrats were.
"I had a litmus test, and for me, it was always who is the best person to keep the Democratic caucus working together and in sync," he said.
Former DuPage GOP Chair and state Sen. Kirk Dillard said he believes the stars will align for his party in the midterms.
"On top of crime, inflation, President Biden's low approval rating, Speaker Madigan's indictment is one more indicator that Illinois Republicans should win a lot of seats this fall," he said.
Former Republican state Rep. Grant Wehrli of Naperville, who lost to Democrat Janet Yang Rohr in 2020, also noted that Madigan poured money and hired talent into creating "a phenomenal campaign machine" to keep the House in Democratic hands.
"No one will be able to duplicate that," Wehrli said.
But with the general election about eight months away, does Madigan outrage have staying power?
"Republicans have been hanging Mike Madigan around (Democrats') necks for over a decade," said Collin Corbett, founder of Cor Strategies, an Inverness-based political consulting company catering to GOP candidates.
The strategy has rarely worked, "because ultimately, Mike Madigan isn't on the ballot," he said.
Former Democratic state Sen. Bill Morris of Grayslake predicted that Republican billionaire Ken Griffin "and his wealthy buddies will spend millions trying to tie Madigan to Gov. J.B. Pritzker and all other Democrats, but they will need more than that to make a seismic shift in Illinois."
The others among the 19 Democratic state representatives who broke from Madigan are Jonathan Carroll, Kelly Cassidy, Deb Conroy, Margaret Croke, Eva Dina Delgado, Daniel Didech, Robyn Gabel, Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, Will Guzzardi, Stephanie Kifowit, Lindsey LaPointe, Anna Moeller, Bob Morgan, Anne Stava-Murray, Maurice West, Ann Williams and Kathleen Willis.
• Daily Herald staff writer Russell Lissau contributed to this report.