Will County Gazette

In the eyes of Republican state House candidate Mike Fricilone, federal investigators can’t finish their probe that House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) is at the center of nearly fast enough. 

“Until then, Mike Madigan still wields power and that’s not a good thing for Illinois,” Fricilone told the Will County Gazette. “Until then, a lot of people still feel indebted to him.”

Fricilone points to the state’s longest-tenured lawmaker recently being able to raise in the neighborhood of $555,000 in a single day just weeks after he was implicated in a pay-for-play scandal involving utility giant ComEd as evidence of that.

“Like I said, people still feel they need to donate,” added Fricilone, who is running against Democrat Marie Newman in the 3rd Congressional District. “The money gets passed out to others running for office and that’s part of how he maintains his power.”

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. 

“I would call for all politicians that have accepted money from him to give back as it strikes me as ill-gotten gains,” Fricilone added. “It’s clear there’s more to this investigation than what he’s saying.”

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, Fricilone said he doesn’t think many are surprised Madigan has taken such a defiant position in proclaiming his innocence.

“If you believe you’re innocent, you should fight, though I can’t see how that can be possible in this case,” he said. “As a party leader, I think what he’s accused of being involved in taints his whole party, especially when some major company like ComEd admits there’s something to this by agreeing to pay such a huge fine.”