Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is being called upon to resign as the chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois by three of the highest-ranking Democrats in the state. | Stock Photo
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is being called upon to resign as the chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois by three of the highest-ranking Democrats in the state. | Stock Photo
Illinois House Speaker, Michael Madigan, is being called upon to resign as the chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois by three of the highest-ranking Democrats in the state.
The Democrats called for him to resign his position after Nov. 3, due to complications of Madigan being tied back to a bribery scandal, Illinois Policy reported. Gov. J.B. Pritzker even said the Democratic Party in Illinois needed a new leader.
Madigan's role as the party leader is a liability, said Senior U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin after the election.
Senior U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin
| https://www.durbin.senate.gov/about-dick-durbin
“All across our state – and the advertising told the story – we paid a heavy price for the Speaker’s chairmanship of the Democratic Party,” said Durbin on WTTW-TV, Illinois Policy reported. “I hope he takes that to heart and understands that his presence as chairman of our party has not helped.”
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth also said Madigan should resign as the party chair and the House speaker.
“The ongoing investigation surrounding Speaker Madigan is an unnecessary distraction and makes it harder to carry out the work of helping the people of Illinois,” Duckworth told The State Journal-Register in an article, “As our nation hopefully embarks on a brighter path with a new president, the Illinois Democratic Party and the Illinois House of Representatives should consider new leadership to continue the progress we’ve made at the state level and build on it.”
Despite all this push from state senators, Madigan has no plans to resign, regardless of being implicated with federal bribery charges in July of this year. ComEd has even said it paid him over $1.3 million in bribes for Madigan to speaker in favor for certain legislation. After ComEd admitted to paying him, Democrats across Illinois began calling on Madgian to resign his leadership roles, Illinois Policy reported.
Pritzker said Madigan should only resign if the allegations of bribes were proven to be true. Regardless, 53 Democrats in the state signed a letter that called for Madigan to resign his positions.
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