Will County Gazette

Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) tries to stay focused on the positives he sees for Republicans after Democrats recently re-elected House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) as state party chairman.

“They’re all loyal to him for whatever reason and it’s a party that’s going to be run by him for the foreseeable future,” Batinick told the Will County Gazette. “We as Republicans happen to think his time should be up and that’s a delineation between the two parties that voters can look at in making their voting decisions between us.”

Democrats recently re-installed the 76-year-old Madigan as state party chairman, making him the longest-tenured Democratic holder of that position in state history.

His re-election came despite a still simmering sexual harassment and abuse scandal that has gripped his office, leading to the ouster of two of his campaign associates and triggering demands that he too be forced out over his handling of the situation.

And then there is his running feud with Gov. Bruce Rauner over each man’s drastically different vision for the long-troubled state.

“All the Democrats have also decided to back J.B. Pritzker’s idea for a progressive tax,” Batinick said of the Democratic gubernatorial candidate for governor. “We as Republicans stand staunchly against it.”

Running for re-election in the 97th District in November’s general election, Batinick said he’s now more convinced than ever that Republicans need to maintain control of the governor’s office for the overall good of the state.

“The governor’s race effects everything, including the new district map,” he said. “If Pritzker and the Democrats win out that means we’ll have another Madigan map, which in no way will  be good for the state.”

Batinick recently joined the growing chorus of Republican lawmakers backing Rauner’s ongoing push for a full and balanced budget, arguing that anything short of that only stands to exacerbate the state’s growing out-migration problem.

“Instability is bad for so many reasons and the economic harm it causes is real,” he previously told Will County Gazette.

The 97th District includes all or parts of Oswego, Plainfield and Shorewood.