North Cook News

Illinois state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview) is the latest member of her party to call for the resignation of longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), who is facing federal corruption charges in relation to his alleged involvement in a bribery scam for which utility giant Commonwealth Edison has paid a $200 million fine.

Gong-Gershowitz's gesture was well-received by Illinoisans set on ending the state's long tradition of corruption, including former state Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston), who tweeted, “So impressed with my state rep. Thank you to Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz for standing up and doing the right thing.”

But has she? Or more to the point, will she? Gong-Gershowitz has one tie to Madigan that might not be so easy to cut – approximately $247,000 she received in campaign contributions from the Speaker's political coffers. 

Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) | File photo

“Oh, please,” Wirepoints tweeted in response to Biss. “She got $246,000 from Madigan, which was effectively stolen by Madigan from Illinoisans. That money should be given back to them somehow.”

In a Chicago Sun Times article, Gong-Gershowitz described the ongoing federal corruption investigation as having “created a crisis of confidence and undermined the integrity and public trust that leadership demands.”

However, she also told the Sun-Times that she does not in fact plan on giving back the $246,902.81 in-kind contributions that she received from campaign funds controlled or connected to Madigan. Her reasoning for holding onto the money – which the Sun-Times noted went mostly to payroll and postage – was that she received the donations before Madigan was implicated in the federal bribery investigation.

Gong-Gershowitz said she supports Madigan’s right to due process, but that does not extend to his maintaining his current leadership position while his moral and ethical judgments are being thrown so sharply into question.

“Leadership is a privilege, and we must hold our leaders to a higher standard,” she told the Sun-Times.