Michael Madigan relinquishing his remaining elected post as Democratic committeeman
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Former House Speaker Mike Madigan, who is set to stand trial on federal racketeering charges next April, is relinquishing his final remaining and longest-held elected office, Democratic committeeman for the 13th ward.
His protege, 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn, confirmed Madigan was not running for the committee position and said that he planned “to circulate petitions (for the post) and see how it goes.”
Madigan was 27 when he was elected 13th Ward committeeman in 1969, becoming the city’s youngest ward boss. His father had been the ward’s superintendent and Madigan was tight with the late Mayor Richard J. Daley.
In an interview that is part of the Richard J. Daley Oral History Collection at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Madigan said the mayor wanted him to take control of a ward that previously had a strong Republican committeeman.
Madigan pulled together the disparate interests of the ward’s Polish, Italian, Irish and Lithuanian populations and built an organization that survived multiple changes in demographics over the years, including a more recent heavy influx of Hispanic residents.
The same year he was elected to the party post, Madigan launched his career in state politics when Daley tapped him to run as a delegate to the convention that wrote Illinois’ 1970 Constitution. Madigan began serving in the Illinois House in 1971 and in 1983 began his record-long tenure as House speaker.
But in more recent years, his vaunted political organization began to crumble amid #MeToo allegations even before Madigan was caught up in a sweeping federal corruption probe that ultimately forced him to step down as head of the state’s Democratic Party, House Speaker and state representative.
Madigan’s position within the Cook County Democratic Party was the last political title he held, though he hadn’t participated in public events such as endorsement sessions in recent years. His trial is scheduled to begin shortly after the March 19 primary election.
Quinn indicated his conversation with Madigan about the committee office was brief and did not elaborate on the party’s direction post-Madigan.
“Building consensus around an issue is the direction, in my opinion, that politics is going,” Quinn told reporters, saying he hasn’t spent much time on county party matters because his “attention has been laser-focused on the 13th Ward.”
Quinn, however, has staffed and worked roll calls in Madigan’s stead in county party meetings. The position not only allows members to vote on endorsements at election time, but also to pick appointees to fill vacant seats on the County Board and in the state legislature.
Quinn said he was prepared to face any potential challengers that might emerge during petition passing, which started Tuesday and lasts through November.
“I’ve been at this for a while, so I do take elections very seriously and I’m prepared to have an election if that’s the case,” Quinn told reporters, saying he was already fundraising and spent “almost every night going door to door.”
Asked how Madigan’s indictment might affect his chances, Quinn said, “I don’t know the answer today.
“Again, I continue to go door to door every night, continue to work with the residents, my neighbors in the 13th Ward and continue to try to be as responsive as possible. I guess that remains to be seen, but I know what I’m going to do.”
