Kane County Reporter

Republican state House candidate Laura Curtis said it's easy to explain why her Democrat rival Maura Hirschauer is still clinging to House Speaker Mike Madigan.

“I think we know why my opponent refuses to call for Mike Madigan’s resignation,” she said. “She’s using the money he controls as chairman of the (state) Democrat Party.”

The longest-serving lawmaker in state history, Madigan now finds himself at the center of an ongoing federal corruption investigation targeting utility giant ComEd and a pay-for-pay scheme. Even as the controversy and pressure swells around him, Madigan has defiantly vowed not to walk away. Curtis attributes at least some of that defiance to the likes of Hirschauer rallying around him no matter what.

Set to face off against Hirschauer in the 49th District in November, Curtis vows the fight must go on.

“The first step to ending the era of corruption in Illinois is removing Speaker Madigan,” she said. “The next step is implementing term limits so we never have another power-hungry, corrupt leader controlling our state for nearly four decades.”

As it is, Curtis argues there’s a reason why Madigan can still raise massive sums of money like he recently did during a one-day, $555,000 fundraiser.

“He’s still funneling money to other candidates,” she said. “My opponent says she wants to put an end to corruption but all of her campaign fliers indicate they are paid for by the Illinois Democratic Party. It’s kind of talking out of both sides of your mouth to say you want to put an end to corruption in Springfield but still be taking money from Mike Madigan. You can’t get more hypocritical than that.”