Madigan To Face Challenge For Speaker Role From Aurora-Area Rep

AURORA, IL — Months after being implicated in a federal corruption investigation, embattled Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan learned Thursday he will face competition for his position next year from Aurora-area State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit.

Kifowit was one of the first Democratic state lawmakers to call for Madigan’s resignation after federal prosecutors revealed in July that Commonwealth Edison tried to bribe the Illinois speaker between 2011 and 2019.

“The people of Illinois have put up with these scandals and corruption for far too long,” the four-term state representative said Thursday at a news conference, the Chicago Tribune reports.

“Every day, we are seeing more and more revelations of self-serving actions by Michael Madigan, and it is honestly my feeling that in the upcoming days and weeks, we’re going to see a whole lot more of those, folks,” Kifowit continued.

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Kifowit, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, is running unopposed for re-election this year in Illinois' 84th House district. The Democratic state representative was first elected to the House in 2012 after serving for nine years on the Aurora City Council.

She currently chairs the House’s State Government Administration and Veterans’ Affairs committees.

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Federal prosecutors have said ComEd rewarded Madigan with jobs for political allies, appointments to ComEd’s board, contracts for a law firm associated with Madigan, and internships for students from Madigan's ward in Chicago.

In exchange, prosecutors have said, Madigan passed legislation that favored ComEd — including looser regulations that allowed them to charge customers more — and opposed legislation that would have hurt the company's bottom line.

Madigan has not been charged in connection with the bribery scheme and has denied any wrongdoing. ComEd has agreed to pay $200 million in restitution and cooperate with investigators as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.

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Madigan said Thursday in a statement that he is “focused on the November election and addressing the devastating effects of COVID-19 on the workers, families and people of Illinois,” the Tribune reports.

“I have spent my entire career supporting Democrats, regardless of differences in perspective within our party," Madigan said. “We are at a critical juncture in our country, and all of us should be focused on coming together to defeat Donald Trump and repair the hate and division he has sown in our communities. We have a lot of work to do.”

Illinois House Republicans launched a special committee at the end of August to begin the process of publicly investigating the allegations against Madigan.

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The committee is made up of three Democrats and three Republicans, meaning at least one Democrat would have to cross the aisle for the committee to take actions, including issuing subpoenas compelling Madigan to testify.

Kifowit’s 84th House district includes all or parts of Aurora, Naperville, Oswego and Montgomery.

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