Lisa Madigan

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Lisa Madigan
Illinois Attorney General
Incumbent
Assumed office
2002
Current term ends
2010
Political party Democrat
Website Official Illinois Attorney General website

Contents

Lisa Madigan (born July 30, 1966, in Chicago, Illinois) is the current Democratic Attorney General of Illinois, the first woman in the state's history to hold the position. Her adoptive father is Michael Madigan, a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives who has held the position of Speaker of the House for all but two years since 1983.

Education

  • Bachelor's degree, Georgetown University (1988)
  • Juris Doctorate degree, Loyola University-Chicago School of Law

Professional experience

Prior to becoming an attorney, Madigan worked as a teacher and community organizer, developing after-school programs to help prevent young children from becoming involved in drugs and gangs. She also volunteered as a high school teacher in South Africa for a brief time during apartheid. Returning to the United States and receiving her law degree, Madigan served as a litigator for the Chicago-based law firm of Sachnoff & Weaver.

Political career

Madigan served as member of the Illinois State Senate from 1998 to 2002. She narrowly became the first woman Attorney General of Illinois in 2002, defeating Republican opponent, Joe Birkett, by just little over three percent.

Controversies

ACORN

See also: Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now

Madigan was one of six state attorney generals, all of whom belonged to the Democratic Party, who received the highest rating, a letter grade of A+, from the June 2008 Survey and Scorecard report published by the embattled liberal political organization, ACORN. The report was published in an effort to shine the spotlight on state attorney generals "leading the fight to protect homeowners from joining the flood of Americans losing their homes to foreclosure," according to the group. [1]

Andrew Harris

One of the largest financial contributions Madigan received during her 2002 campaign for Illinois Attorney General was the $25,000 donation given by black metal musician, Andrew Harris. In addition to being the son of a Cook County Circuit judge, Harris is best known for his solo musical project, Judas Iscariot, whose stated goal was to spread anti-Christian philosophy through music. Madigan, unaware at the time of controversy surrounding the singer/songwriter, chose to take the money and "direct it to places that could provide the best use for it to fight the kind of bigotry that he stands for, which is absolutely abhorrent to Sen. Madigan and her record of service" [2] once news of the donation broke in the Chicago Tribune.

Antoin 'Tony' Rezko

Rezko, a generous contributor, fundraiser, and long time friend to President Barack Obama as well as closely associated with disgraced former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich, was convicted on several counts of fraud and bribery in 2008. The embattled campaign fund-raiser covered his bases on the state level as well. In March 2002, Rezko made two $5,000 individual contributions to Citizens for Lisa Madigan. [3]

Public records

Madigan's office in May 2009 heralded the passage of Senate Bill 189 (SB0189) as "a great victory for advocates of open and accountable government at all levels." [4] SB0189 amended the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act by codifying the Public Access Counselor (PAC) position within the AG's office and explicitly authorized "the PAC to review and determine whether documents must be disclosed under FOIA or whether a government body has violated the Open Meetings Act."

Some people, like good government advocate Adam Andrzejewski, are less then enthusiastic, however, believing it would better if Madigan practiced what she preached. For example, Andrzejewski points out that a simple "review of freedom of information requests received by her office in 2006 and 2007 reveals that she is late almost half the time in responding to information requests." [5] What is worse is that Madigan's office failed to meet the state mandated seven day request deadline with 225 out of 537, or 42%, of those cases.

SEIU

See also: Service Employees International Union

The conservative Illinois Review posted an article in September 2009 stating that of the nearly $12 million Illinois political campaign contributions embattled ACORN/SEIU has made over the years, Illinois State Board of Elections records show that Attorney General Lisa Madigan has received a grand total of $223,460.[6]

Campaign contributions

2006 Race for Attorney General - Campaign Contributions
Total Raised $3,151,663
Total Raised by Primary Opponent N/A
Total Raised by Gen. Election Opponent $163,649
Top 5 Contributors Fred Eychaner $125,000 (3.97% of Total)
Service Employees Illinois Council/SEIU $102,500 (3.25%)
LIUNA $100,000 (3.17%)
Illinois Laborers $80,782 (2.56%)
Friedman Properties $73,796 (2.34%)
Individuals v. Institutions $1,141,718 (36.2%)
$1,931,637 (61.3%)
In v. Outside State $2,853,107 (90.6%)
$295,721 (9.4%)

Electoral history

2002

2002 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary Election [7]
Candidates Percentage
Lisa Madigan (D) 58.2%
Schmidt (D) 41.8%
Total votes 1,199,440
2002 Race for Attorney General - General Election [8]
Candidates Percentage
Lisa Madigan (D) 50.4%
Birkett (R) 47.1%
Shilts (Libertarian) 2.5%
Total votes 3,498,901

2006

  • 2006 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary
    • Lisa Madigan ran unopposed
2002 Race for Attorney General - General Election [9]
Candidates Percentage
Lisa Madigan (D) 72.4%
Umholtz (R) 24.3%
Black (Green) 3.3%
Total votes 3,479,812

Family life

Madigan currently resides in Chicago, Illinois with her husband, cartoonist Pat Byrnes, and their two daughters.

Awards

  • Abraham Lincoln Award (2004) from the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence (ICHV)
  • New Frontier Award (2005) from John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum [10]
  • Sunshine Award (2005) from the Society of Professional Journalists
  • Best Friend Award (2006) from Kids in Danger
  • Preeminent Impact Award (2009) from the National MS Society - Greater Illinois Chapter

Contact Info

100 West Randolph Street
Chicago, IL 60601

Phone: 312-814-3000
Toll Free Phone: 800-964-3013

External links

References

  1. ↑ ACORN "Attorneys General Take Action: Real Leadership in Fighting Foreclosures" June 2008
  2. ↑ Chicago Tribune "Madigan to give up `bigotry' money" 2 Sept. 2002
  3. ↑ Illinois Review "Rezko's Illinois Friends: Exhibit A" 29 Jan. 2008
  4. ↑ Illinois AG Lisa Madigan - Transparency Legislation Will Reform Open Government Laws in Illinois
  5. ↑ Illinois Review "AG Madigan's Phony Bait-and-Switch FOIA Policy" 5 June, 2009
  6. ↑ Illinois Review "ACORN/SEIU donated thousands to IL statewide and law enforcement officials" 22 Sept. 2009
  7. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections - 2002 Primary Election Results
  8. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections - 2002 General Election Results
  9. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections - 2006 General Election Results
  10. ↑ John F. Kennedy Library Foundation - Lisa Madigan biography


Political offices
Preceded by
Bruce A. Farley 		Illinois State Senate - District 17
1999–2003 		Succeeded by
District Merged
Preceded by
Jim Ryan 		Illinois Attorney General
2003–present 		Succeeded by
NA
v • d • e
State Attorneys General
   
Attorney General elections, 2010
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