Metro-East House Republican candidates are calling out Democrat incumbents for their "silence" on troubles facing Illinois House Speaker and chairman of the state Democratic party Michael J. Madigan.
On July 17, federal prosecutors revealed what they called a scheme by electric utility ComEd to bribe Madigan for passage of legislation that funneled billions of dollars their way. U.S. Attorney John Lausch called the investigation “vibrant" and continuing.
Republican Amy Elik, 46, of Alton, seeking to unseat first term State Rep. Monica Bristow, 58, (D-Alton), said: "It’s impossible to reform Illinois as long as Speaker Madigan remains in power. Speaker Madigan continues to block any chance of ethics reform, property tax reform, and term limits, and Monica Bristow is a willing conspirator by remaining silent.”
Bristow did not respond to a request for comment from the Record on whether she believes Madigan should resign and her opinion more generally on the controversy.
Republican Lisa Ciampoli, 58, of Collinsville criticized incumbent State Rep. Katie Stuart, 49, (D-Edwardsville), saying: "The people are demanding change to how Springfield operates. Speaker Madigan has a clear conflict of interest to continue serving as speaker. It’s time for him to step down, and for Katie Stuart to stop playing follow the leader by remaining silent on the matter.”
Rep. Stuart did not respond for comment from the Record.
In the past two weeks, a slow but growing number of elected Illinois Democrats have asked Madigan to step aside.
Though Madigan is not under indictment in the alleged scheme, at least five state representatives - Reps. Terra Costa Howard, Stephanie Kifowit, Jonathan “Yoni” Pizer, Kelly Cassidy and Anne Stava-Murray, as well as State Sens. Heather Steans and Melinda Bush - have demanded he step down as Speaker, and some also have called for him to cede his equally powerful role as head of the state party, according to various media reports.
According to a report in Capitol Fax on Friday, Madigan issued a statement Thursday saying he had no plans to resign after polling his caucus on the question.
111th House District
Bristow first won the 111th District, formerly held by long time Rep. Dan Beiser, by narrowly defeating Mike Babcock in 2018 by 356 votes - 19,095 to 18,739.
Her win came with a price of a little more than $100 per vote, having outspent Babcock by approximately than 3-1.
Babcock's campaign raised $665,587, funded primarily by the House Republican Organization, with a price of about $35 per vote.
Bristow was showered with close to $2 million in the 2018 election cycle - more than a half million coming from the Democratic Majority PAC, which is chaired by Madigan.
Other big money into Bristow's campaign came from the war chests of other Democrat state reps, labor groups, trial lawyers and an assortment of political action committees.
How vital the Democratic Majority and state party will be to Bristow's and other Democrat campaigns remains to be seen - spending and activity normally picks up after Labor Day.
The Democratic Majority started the year with $5 million, and at the end of June it had $4.3 million on hand. So far this election year, it has raised $464,000, compared to $1.78 million during the same period in 2018.
The Democratic Party of Illinois had $2.4 million on hand at the end of June. At the end of June 2018, it had $5.2 million on hand.
As for Bristow's campaign finance committee, she had $523,413.44 on hand at the end of June, but raised another $15,500 in the past two weeks from large corporations, such as Ameren, Monsanto and AT&T, as well as others.
And just last week, the Democratic Party of Illinois provided a $15,573 in-kind campaign donation.
Since announcing her candidacy last Fall, Elik has raised roughly $70,000, getting help from the HRO as well as the conservative Illinois Opportunity Project.
Elik is a certified public accountant and Foster Township trustee.
112th House District
Stuart is seeking her third term. First elected in 2016, she defeated incumbent Republican Dwight Kay that year by a margin of 51.6% to 48.4%, or 1,719 votes.
In 2016, Stuart raised close to $2 million, and nearly $1 million was contributed by PACs controlled by Madigan.
Kay raised roughly $1 million that year, with most coming from the House Republican Organization and the Illinois Republican Party.
In 2018, Stuart again defeated Kay but by a larger margin, 55% to 45%, or 4,568 votes.
That race also wasn't as expensive, as Stuart took in roughly $900,000, with about a third of that coming from the Democratic Majority and Democratic Party of Illinois.
As for Kay, he raised about half as much in 2018 as the previous cycle, approximately $500,000, with most again coming from the HRO and Illinois Republican Party.
Ciampoli is a former Madison County board member who was slated by Republican leaders to face Stuart November.
She has not formed a campaign finance committee yet, according to a records search of the Illinois State Board of Elections.