As his future as Illinois’ most influential lawmaker remains uncertain amid a federal corruption probe, Democratic Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has continued to enjoy the support of trial lawyers who have consistently been among his biggest supporters.
On Jan. 11, Madigan announced he was “suspending” his campaign to earn another term as Illinois House Speaker, an office he has held for nearly all of the past four decades.
Madigan’s announcement left in doubt how the state House’s Democratic supermajority would move forward in choosing the next Speaker during this winter legislative session.
The session is the General Assembly's first since last spring, and the first since federal prosecutors publicly widened their investigation of an alleged bribery scheme, centered on Madigan’s political organizations and electrical utility ComEd.
In July, federal prosecutors in Chicago hit ComEd with charges, accusing the company of participating in a scheme to use patronage hiring and appointments of Madigan’s friends, allies and loyalists, to bribe Madigan to persuade him to back their legislative priorities.
Class action lawsuits filed against ComEd in the wake of those revelations have accused ComEd of wrongly raking in many millions, if not billions of dollars, more from Illinois electrical customers than the company otherwise would have, as a result of the legislation backed by Madigan.
In November, prosecutors expanded the case further, bringing indictments against several individuals in connection with the scheme, including several Madigan insiders.
Since July, federal prosecutors have made clear the investigation centers on Madigan, who they identified in the various indictments as “Public Official A.” They have specified that Public Official A serves as Speaker of the Illinois House.
The legal troubles have led a group of 19 Democrats in the Illinois House to publicly vow not to vote for Madigan for speaker. He is being directly challenged by three others, including five-term State Rep. Ann Williams, of Chicago’s North Side.
However, according to financial reports filed by Madigan’s main campaign organizations, the federal probe has not caused donors to stop contributing big money to Madigan’s political coffers, which Madigan then uses to build loyalty among the members of the Illinois General Assembly and other offices in Springfield, Chicago and elsewhere.
Unions remain Madigan’s biggest contributors, again transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars into Friends of Michael J. Madigan, the speaker’s main campaign committee. According to reports published by the Illinois State Board of Elections, in December alone, the LIUNA Chicago Laborers’ District Council Chicago has donated $300,000; the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers donated $250,000; the Regional Council of Carpenters donated $100,000; United Auto Workers of Illinois, $75,000; and Teamsters Local 731 donated $25,000.
Those were on top of hundreds of thousands more that unions donated this fall.
At the same time, Madigan reported a combined $200,000 donated in November and December from big Democratic donor Michael J. Sacks, and his wife, Cari. Sacks is CEO of Grosvenor Capital, a capital firm that helps pension funds and other big clients invest in hedge funds.
But throughout the fall, Madigan has also enjoyed consistent and sustained financial support from trial lawyers, as well.
According to state records, from September to December, those trial lawyers and their political action committee combined to donate more than $336,000 to the Friends of Michael J. Madigan committee and the 13th Ward Democratic Organization.
Of that total, about $175,000 has come into Madigan’s campaign organizations from trial lawyers since Sept. 30.
The Illinois Trial Lawyers PAC donated $25,000.
Indicted Chicago Ald. Ed Burke, who once ranked with Madigan as one of the most powerful politicians in Chicago and throughout the state, donated $25,000, as well, records show.
Law firms donating to Madigan’s campaign organizations since Sept. 30, as reported in the campaign disclosure reports, included: Cooney & Conway, of Chicago; Gori Law, of Edwardsville; Meyers & Flowers, of St. Charles; Taxman Pollock Murray & Bekkerman, of Chicago; Korein Tillery, of Chicago; Smith LaCien, of Chicago; Salvi Schostok & Pritchard, of Waukegan; Power Rogers & Smith, of Chicago; Keefe Keefe & Unsell, of Belleville; the Clifford Law Offices, of Chicago; Simmons Hanly & Conroy, of Alton; the Krzak Rundio Law Group, of Chicago; and Malman Law, of Chicago, among others.
Trial lawyers have long been among the biggest donors to the Democratic Party in Illinois and to Madigan’s political purses.
A trial lawyer, Edward T. Joyce, for instance, served as treasurer of the Friends of Michael J. Madigan committee as recently as 2012.
That role is now filled by lawyer Michael J. Kasper, an attorney who regularly represents Democratic Party interests in court and who regularly spearheads efforts to remove challengers to Democratic Party candidates from ballots each election cycle and has led efforts to kill reform measures in court.
According to state campaign finance records, trial lawyers, their firms and political organizations have collectively donated more than $2 million to Friends of Michael J. Madigan, alone, since 2018.