South Cook News

When it comes to House Speaker Mike Madigan and the ComEd pay-for-play scandal he now finds himself at the center of, Republican state House hopeful Eric Wallace is just waiting on what he sees as the inevitable.

“He’ll find some way to avoid testifying,” Wallace told the South Cook News of the state’s longest-tenured lawmaker who is now being asked to appear before a bipartisan Special House committee convened to look into his behavior. “If he did, he’d claim that he’s done nothing wrong.”

Federal investigators have also launched a probe into the matter, in which reports are the benefits from the arrangement were steered to Madigan through intermediaries in exchange for his support on pending legislation. Even with ComEd having already agreed to pay a $200 million fine over its involvement in the plot, Wallace doesn’t expect Madigan and Democrats to make things easy.

“It’s a dog and pony show,” added Wallace, who is running against Democrat Patrick Joyce in the 40th District. “They have no real power and Madigan knows it. It’s only about public opinion and acting like you’re doing something about corruption.”

With everything that’s now happening in Springfield, Wallace recently shared he thinks voters may finally be tiring of all Madigan’s shenanigans and that could be reflected in the way things play out on Election Day in November.  

“The best thing people can do to send Madigan a message and change leadership is to support Republican candidates,” he said. “If he loses the majority, he won't control the House. If he loses the Senate, it's a slap in his face. He only understands political power, so we need to take it from him through the ballot box.”