Kane County Reporter

Republican state Senate candidate Ben Bierly is reminded of why he entered the world of politics as he observed the ongoing federal bribery scandal involving longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan.

“As a public official he’s supposed to be above reproach,” Bierly told the DuPage Policy Journal. “Everything you seek to do should be for the good of the people above all else. That doesn’t mean you may not face some criticism, but there’s no way your name should be caught up in the kind of things we’re hearing about him being involved in.”

A retired U.S. Marine, Bierly is now running in the 43rd District. Bierly has based his candidacy on a platform of limited and responsible government.

He says there’s no way he can see how Madigan, the state’s longest serving lawmaker, can carry on after federal prosecutors recently tied him to an ongoing corruption scandal involving utility giant ComEd.

“The right thing for him to do would be to step down from public office completely,” he said. “Had I ever been implicates in something like this while still in the Marines I would be taken out of every responsible post and had all top status revoked at least until the investigation was done.”

After nearly four decades of being in control in Springfield, Madigan now finds himself at the center of an unfolding federal corruption probe involving ComEd. Federal prosecutors contend 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.

To date, no charges have been filed against the state’s longest-serving lawmaker, but prosecutors have not been shy in asserting that the utility giant sought to “influence and reward” Madigan by providing financial benefits to those directly tied to him.

“I look at what’s happening in Springfield and it’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion,” Bierly added. “You can’t just sit on the side and not do anything and keep your sanity. My background goes into how we can correct those issues. We need to return to Springfield and get our state back on track.”

Bierly said that starts with erasing all the corruption, which he argues is now costing taxpayers untold millions and more.

“It’s time for change,” he said. “People across political spectrums have the same concerns.

But even as controversy continues to swell, Bierly said he doesn’t expect to see Madigan change anything in his approach.

“He thinks he’s bulletproof and he knows he has a huge legal war chest to battle with,” he said.