Kane County Reporter

Republican state House candidate Laura Curtis is pushing a series of changes in Springfield that she’s convinced could lead to the kind of ethical reforms many are now clamoring for.

“The first step to ending the era of corruption in Illinois is removing Speaker (Mike) Madigan from office,” Curtis, who is now running against Democrat Maura Hirschauer in the 49th District, told the Kane County Reporter. “The next step is implementing term limits so we never have another power-hungry, corrupt leader controlling our state for nearly four decades.”

Even as a growing number of lawmakers are now calling for his removal, Democrats have largely remained mum, prompting a defiant Madigan to recently boast he has no intentions of stepping down and feels like he has the support of most of his party members.

None of it strikes Curtis as a surprise.

“Their blind allegiance to him is concerning and proves that the speaker has had a hold on this state for far too long,” she said.

Meanwhile, GOP lawmakers are now calling for a vote that would immediately remove the longtime speaker from power. In addition to cosponsoring House Resolution 885, several Republican legislators are now also urging Gov. J.B. Pritzker to call a special session of the General Assembly to deal with the overriding issue of ethics reform.

Curtis recently called on Hirschauer to joining her in demanding that Madigan be shown the door.

“Now is the time to speak out against Speaker Madigan,” she said. “Yet many Democrats are staying quiet, including my opponent. It’s been nine days since Speaker Madigan was implicated in the ComEd scandal. Your silence says everything.”

Curtis wonders is Hirschauer hoping to follow in the footsteps of former state Rep. Karina Villa, who took $1.4 million in campaign contributions, might have something to do with it.

“Is she taking cues from her predecessor?" she asked.