Kendall County Times

Former Republican state House candidate James Marter wasn’t surprised to see supporters rally around embattled House Speaker Mike Madigan to the tune of a recent one-day $555,000 fundraising overhaul.

“It shows you have a thick den of thieves here in Illinois,” Marter told the Kendall County Times. “These people in many ways are kind of fearless in what they think they can get away with and don’t care about anyone or anything.”

Madigan’s political windfall came just days after he was implicated in an ongoing federal corruption probe involving ComEd and a pay-for-play scandal. As chairman of at least four political groups, Madigan is now reported to have nearly $23 million in his political coffers, at least partly accounting for the informal title he holds in the eyes of many as the most powerful man in state politics. 

“He and his crew think he’s untouchable,” Marter added. “But I say even Al Capone got taken down here in Illinois. The tide could be turning. Even some Democrats have asked him to step down. The rest that are still toeing the company line are part of the corruption and need to go with him.”

While state Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) has filed a bill that would ban politicians from using campaign funds to pay legal bills for corruption cases, Marter argues the change that’s needed will have to come from voters.

“Hopefully they’ll get smarter about the people they put in office to represent them,” he said.  “Voters need to realize what’s best for them is not putting the same Democrats back in power election after election. It’s on them because people that are this corrupt will do anything they think they need to in order to keep things just as they are.”