Will County Gazette

House Floor Leader Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) thinks the ongoing federal corruption scandal that finds longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan at its center should pose an interesting dynamic in this year’s general election.

“For me, the Madigan situation is like a litmus test,” Batinick told the Will County Gazette. “I don’t think the voters of Illinois should be casting a ballot for anyone that will vote for Mike Madigan to carry on as House speaker.”

Batinick argues his reasons are many, the latest of which come as after nearly four decades of being in control in Springfield, Madigan now finds himself at the center of an unfolding federal corruption probe involving ComEd. Federal prosecutors contend the company engaged in a “years-long bribery scheme” involving jobs, contracts and payments that were steered to him in his role as house speaker and chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party.

To date, no charges have been filed against the state’s longest-serving lawmaker, but prosecutors have not been shy in asserting that the utility giant sought to “influence and reward” Madigan by providing financial benefits to those directly tied to him.

Set to face off against Harry Benton in November’ general election, Batinick argues that Democrats’ ongoing silence on the issue speaks volumes.

“It’s a joke the way they’ve responded to this,” he said. “It’s been 10 days since the scandal was made public and my opponent is still standing with him. Things like this are why the state is in the shape that it is. Everything that’s wrong with Illinois leads back to the corruption.”

In the end, Batinick said it all comes down to Democratic lawmakers being afraid to take a stand against their unquestioned leader.

“They won’t do anything to remove,” he said. “I think the feds are going to have to do the job that we should be doing.”