Will She Or Won't She Run For Governor? Lisa Madigan Keeps Everyone Guessing
By Chuck Sudo in News on Apr 2, 2013 9:30PM
It’s currently the biggest question in Illinois politics: Will Lisa Madigan run for governor in 2014? Laying odds on the future political aspirations of Illinois’ Attorney General — arguably the most popular politician in the Prairie State — has slowly simmered for months since news first surfaced she was considering a gubernatorial campaign.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin told Sun-Times Washington correspondent Lynn Sweet in January that Madigan was “seriously thinking” about a run for governor, and now he says he believes she’ll have a clear path at Gov. Pat Quinn in next year’s Democratic primary if she decides to run. According to Politico, Democratic power brokers in Washington and Illinois want a stronger candidate than Quinn, whose handling of the state’s pension crisis and other issues has sent his approval ratings in free fall. Crain’s Chicago Business columnist Greg Hinz wrote last month Madigan met with various labor leaders and flew to Washington to speak with the League of Conservation Voters and officials with Emily’s List, both backers of Democratic candidates and, in the case of Emily’s List, women seeking higher office. Madigan’s campaign war chest currently stands at $3.8 million, meaning she’ll be able to finance a major campaign, whether for the governor’s mansion or re-election for Attorney General.
The lack of an official announcement has the campaigns of several other Democrats on hold. Former Commerce Secretary Bill Daley has been viewed as a possible challenger to Quinn and said publicly his decision won’t hinge on Madigan. Durbin, who’s gone out of his way to not endorse anyone right now, suggested Daley won’t enter the race if Madigan runs.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon, who already announced she would not seek re-election, could eye a run for comptroller if Madigan runs for governor. Other possible candidates for state office waiting for an announcement for higher statewide office are Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and State Sen. Kwame Raoul. Raoul has designs on the Attorney General’s office, but only if Madigan doesn’t run for re-election. Political consultant Don Rose told the Sun-Times it would be folly for any Democrat to run against her. “She is an absolutely unbeatable office holder for any office she runs for in the state of Illinois,” Rose said.
Madigan’s formidability extends to the GOP, where the names for a gubernatorial run include state Treasurer Dan Rutherford, state Sen. Bill Brady (who lost to Quinn in 2010), state Sen. Kirk Dillard, Congressman Aaron Schock and venture capitalist Bruce Rauner, who announced the formation of an exploratory committee last month to gauge a run for governor. Rauner announced Tuesday his exploratory committee raised $1.3 million since its March 5 formation — $249,000 of that was a personal donation.
“The folks I’m meeting as I travel the state understand Illinois needs a political outsider willing to take on the failed status quo in Springfield, and I’m excited by their response to my exploratory committee,” said Bruce Rauner. “The amount of support we’ve received in less than a month exceeds expectations and underscores the fact that Illinoisans are looking for someone to bring a fresh perspective to solving the challenges facing our state.”
The biggest fear in all this speculation is a fear by politicians on both sides of the aisle that a Lisa Madigan as governor will combine with the power wielded by her father, Illinois House Speaker and Illinois Democratic Party chairman Michael Madigan, to form some form of dictatorship. (As if Michael Madigan's current actions aren't autocratic enough.) Illinois Republican Party chairman Pat Brady told the Sun-Times the prospect of Michael Madigan as Speaker with his daughter as governor is "incomprehensible."
But Lisa Madigan's poll numbers (and, more important, the fact she's competently performed her duties in office) have made her popular with voters, even in parts of Illinois that view her father as the Devil Incarnate. For what it's worth, we believe she's acted independently enough of her father that the fears raised by Brady and others are just that. Michael Madigan's spokesman, Steve Brown, told the Sun-Times the same issue was raised when Lisa Madigan was a state Senator and as Attorney General.