The optics of a $760,000 donation to Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-Chicago) from a public-sector union did not go unnoticed by Joan McCarthy Lasonde, state Senate candidate for the 9th District.
“Our state’s economic health is one of the worst in the nation,” Lasonde recently wrote on Facebook. “How embarrassing!”
The Illinois News Network reported the donation from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 on Sept. 26. Writer Cole Lauterbach noted the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) recently lost a case before the Supreme Court, which ruled public-sector unions could no longer force non-members to pay fees if they did not want to.
Joan McCarthy Lasonde
| joanforillinois.com/
Lasonde recently signed the “End Political Corruption” Challenge, a five-part pledge for state Congressional candidates. The pledge supports a “no budget, no pay” constitutional amendment and term limits, in addition to refusing tax-supported pensions and healthcare for lawmakers. So far, her opponent, state Rep. Laura Fine (D-Glenview), has refrained from signing the pledge.
Lasonde also announced on Facebook that she was "honored" to be endorsed Pastor Corey Brooks, leader of the New Beginnings Church of Chicago.
The 9th district includes Evanston, New Trier, Niles and Northfield.
Alerts Sign-up