Madigan has been a member of the Illinois House of Representatives since 1971. But the impact may not be felt immediately, because 5th District state House primary victor Juliana Stratton, if she wins in November, won’t be seated until early in 2017. Sam McCann defeated Bryce Benton, who challenged McCann for voting with Democrats.
Madigan said those results should persuade Rauner to drop his effort to tie an anti-union, business-backed agenda to passage of a state budget and focus exclusively on “the most important issue at hand”.
“Yesterday, voters in the Democratic primary election made it very clear they want representatives in the State Capitol who will stand up for middle-class families, children and the elderly, not turn their backs on them”, Madigan said, adding voters rejected a candidate who received financial support from a number of Republicans.
Dunkin twice withheld votes that would have handed Rauner defeats in a struggle over the state budget and the governor’s Turnaround Agenda.
The Speaker points to two races as proof: his own, in which he fended off a candidate whom Madigan says was supported by “those aligned with the governor’s belief in how government should be run”. “So he looks weak and Madigan looks strong”, said David Yepsen, the head of Southern Illinois University’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. But the total fell well short of Madigan’s 15-thousand plus votes.
But Rauner’s administration showed little willingness to do that in a Wednesday statement that needled Madigan for allowing the House to be on a month-long recess despite the ongoing budget stalemate. Rauner’s office then criticized Madigan, saying he “needs to end his month-long vacation” and work on passing a budget.
