Kane County Reporter

Republican state Senate candidate and retired Marine Corps Major Ben Bierly argues Illinois has House Speaker Mike Madigan to thank for its standing as a one-of-a-kind political metropolis.

“It’s clear that, despite dying off in most of the country, machine politics are alive and well in Illinois,” Bierly told the Kane County Reporter. “Machine politics rely on favors and corruption and thwart the will of ‘We the people.’ Stories of immoral behavior in Springfield are rampant and bring disgrace upon our great state.”

Bierly laments the corruption itself almost as much as the lengths some have gone to in order to maintain the status quo in Springfield is almost just as bad. 

Bierly points to Madigan being able to raise in the neighborhood of $555,000 in a single day just weeks after he was implicated in an ongoing federal corruption probe involving ComEd and a pay-for-play scheme as a prime example of that. As chair of at least four political groups, Madigan is now reported to have nearly $23 million in his political coffers, at least partly accounting for the informal title he holds in the eyes of many as the most powerful man in state politics. 

“If we are to address this, we need to hold our elected officials accountable for their behavior,” added Bierly, who is running against Democrat John Connor in the 43rd District. “One way of doing this is to allow the Legislative Inspector General to operate without legislative interference. And I plan to sponsor a bill to require term limits and will be limiting myself to 10 years of service.”

As for Madigan, several media outlets have reported at least some of his vast political war chest has gone to him legally defending himself and his organization, including a sexual harassment allegation that was ultimately settled.

“Speaker Mike Madigan and others in Springfield have remained in office for far too long because he has collected political allies and sponsors,” Bierly added. “Madigan, who has had a long time to build up an enormous war chest, uses those funds to buy candidates’ loyalty and contribute heavily to their election campaigns. Term limits will solve this problem and give candidates a more even field of competition.”

While state Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) has filed a bill that would ban politicians from using campaign funds to pay legal bills for corruption cases, Bierly wonders if anything will really ever change until lawmakers gain control of growing special interest groups.

“The problem is not that people gather together in groups to redress their grievances, but that special interests can sometimes operate outside of the law,” he said. “Freeing the Legislative Inspector General from political control will help to reduce the incidences of unethical influence.”