Kane County Reporter

Republican state House candidate Laura Curtis is demanding that 49th District rival Maura Hirschauer join her in calling for the immediate resignation of House Speaker Mike Madigan.

“I have called upon my opponent to demand the Speaker’s resignation,” Curtis said. “As of today, to my knowledge, she has not even publicly acknowledged the investigation.”

Madigan, who easily reigns as the longest-tenured lawmaker in the state, now finds himself at the center of a still-evolving probe into ComEd, in which prosecutors are on record in asserting that 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.

While stopping short of formally levying any charges, prosecutors contend Commonwealth Edison attempted to “influence and reward” Madigan by providing financial benefits to those directly tied to him.

“This is why I'm running for state representative,” Curtis added. “Let’s put an end to the culture of corruption in Springfield.”

In publicly announcing the case against ComEd public, U.S. Attorney John Lausch noted the investigation is ongoing. The Chicago Tribune reports federal investigators have moved to subpoena Madigan for information, including “possible job recommendations.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Madigan said he plans to cooperate with the probe, adding “The speaker has never helped someone find a job with the expectation that the person would not be asked to perform work by their employer, nor did he ever expect to provide anything to a prospective employer if it should choose to hire a person he recommended.”

Through it all, Curtis openly wonders why Hirschauer has remained so quiet.

“Is she waiting to see how big a check Madigan will write to buy her silence?” she said. “Or is she taking cues from her predecessor, Karina Villa, who took $1.4 million from Madigan?”

After two-years as state representative, Villa recently announced she will not be seeking reelection and is now running for the state Senate in the 25th District.