Illinois Republicans urge voters to help battle culture of corruption

(The Center Square) – Illinois Republicans say since Democrats are slow to enact meaningful ethics reforms in the General Assembly, voters need to bring about change this Nov. 5.

Amid speculation he was being vetted to be Kamala Harris’ running mate late last month, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker used social media to respond to a Politico article about his criticism of e-cigarettes despite his own cousin, Nicholas Pritzker, being the second largest shareholder of an e-cig company.

To a post on X from Daniel Lippman saying Pritzker “NOT being corrupt is a stunning abdication of traditional Illinois politician values,” Pritzker responded with “My bad.”

But Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, was critical that more is not being done by the Democratic supermajority to curb corrupt practices in state government.

“We’ve been hearing about ethics and we’ve been hearing about changes that they are going to be making but they continue to not do that, so we’re going to have to do that ourselves as voters and do that at the voter box,” McCombie said outside of the Republican National Convention.

The election is Nov. 5. Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is set to go to trial on corruption charges in October. Madigan faces charges in a case federal prosecutors called “Madigan Enterprise,” a nearly decade-long scheme with ComEd to line up no-show jobs for friends in exchange for legislation favorable to the utility. Madigan denied he did anything wrong and has pleaded not guilty.

Democrats say they have addressed ethics with measures prohibiting legislators from becoming lobbyists under certain conditions, tightening regulations on registered lobbyists and consultants, and expanding economic interest disclosures and powers of the Legislative Inspector General.

At last month’s RNC in Milwaukee, Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi said she met with other Republicans from across the country.

“As for the culture of corruption, I’ve been here with many of the delegations from across the nation and sadly that is what we are known for, a culture of corruption in Illinois.”

Salvi said Republicans in the super minority hope to turn things around in Illinois. State Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, pitched the former Republican president for another term.

“Remember that Donald Trump is who gave the Justice Department the money and resources they needed to bring down Mike Madigan,” Bryant said.

Former Northern Illinois U.S. Attorney John Lausch came in during the Trump administration and was kept on by President Joe Biden at the behest of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin amid the initial fallout of corruption allegations against the ComEd Four in 2020 and subsequent charges against the former longtime Illinois House speaker in 2021.

Madigan’s corruption case is one in a litany of others over the years stemming from the Illinois Statehouse. Former state Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Cicero, pleaded guilty to bribery and tax offenses in 2020.

Former Illinois state Rep. Luis Arroyo, D-Chicago, was sentenced to nearly five years for participating in a bribery scheme involving a fellow state legislator as a cooperating witness wearing a wire.

Former Illinois state Sen. Terry Link, D-Indian Creek, was sentenced to three years in a tax evasion case.