Grasiela Rodriguez
Grasiela Rodriguez was a 2016 Democratic candidate for District 22 of the Illinois House of Representatives.
Elections
2016
Elections for the Illinois House of Representatives were held in 2016. The primary election was held on March 15, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was November 30, 2015.[1]
Incumbent Michael J. Madigan ran unopposed in the Illinois House of Representatives District 22 general election.[2][3]
| Illinois House of Representatives, District 22 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic |  Michael J. Madigan Incumbent (unopposed) | |
| Source: Illinois State Board of Elections | ||
Incumbent Michael J. Madigan defeated Jason Gonzales, Grasiela Rodriguez and Joe Barboza in the Illinois House of Representatives District 22 Democratic primary.[4][5]
| Illinois House of Representatives, District 22 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Michael J. Madigan Incumbent |
65.18% | 17,155 | |
| Democratic | Jason Gonzales | 27.07% | 7,124 | |
| Democratic | Grasiela Rodriguez | 5.79% | 1,523 | |
| Democratic | Joe Barboza | 1.97% | 518 | |
| Total Votes | 26,320 | |||
2016 primary
- Main article: Battleground Illinois primary elections, 2016
Race background
NBC Chicago's politics blog Ward Room featured the District 22 race in its twice-weekly column "Race to Watch." Gonzales touted his story of having "non-violent run-ins with the law" as a teenager to becoming a graduate of Harvard University and MIT.[6][7]
Gonzales was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune over Madigan. "He has resources and money—some from reform-minded donors who support redistricting and term limits, and some from supporters of Gov. Bruce Rauner who are tired of Madigan's iron grip on state government," the paper stated.[8]
After the election, Gonzales filed a lawsuit alleging that Madigan had run ads accusing Gonzales of being a criminal and that Madigan had assisted two other candidates in filing so that they could divert votes away from Gonzales.[9] Gonzales said, "This isn’t about me being a sore loser. It isn’t about me crying because I lost. It’s about justice. It’s about justice for me. It’s about justice for every candidate who has come before and will go ahead."[10] Madigan said Gonzales "cannot be trusted and his lawsuit is without merit... Voters of my district soundly renominated me based on my strong record of service, giving me more than 65 percent of the vote, and they emphatically rejected Jason Gonzales because they knew he couldn't be trusted."[9] In 2021, a three-judge panel ruled in favor of Madigan.[11]
Campaign finance
Illinois United for Change, a political action committee whose purpose is "to support reform-minded candidates and other political movements in Illinois," spent over $100,000 in support of Gonzales. Under Illinois campaign finance law, this action removes limits on campaign spending and allows committees to raise unlimited funds leading up to the election, which means Madigan's committee, Friends of Michael J. Madigan, was also permitted to raise unlimited funds.[12]
Blair Hull, a Democrat who ran against then-state Sen. Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary in 2004, is a major donor to Illinois United for Change. Most of the money Hull gave to the group went toward ads against Madigan and in support of Gonzales.[13]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Grasiela Rodriguez Illinois. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Illinois House of Representatives
- Illinois House of Representatives District 22
- Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2016
- Illinois State Legislature
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Election and Campaign Finance Calendar," accessed November 30, 2015
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate list: General Election - 11/8/2016," accessed August 8, 2016
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Election results, General election 2016," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate Filing Search," accessed January 3, 2016
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Election Results: GENERAL PRIMARY - 3/15/2016," accessed August 8, 2016
- ↑ NBC Chicago, "Race to Watch: Illinois House of Representatives District 22," February 23, 2016
- ↑ Jason for Illinois, "My story," accessed March 11, 2016
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Chicago Tribune endorsements for the Illinois House," February 29, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Governing, "Loser in Illinois Primary Files Federal Lawsuit," August 9, 2016
- ↑ WGLT, "Former Opponent Sues Speaker Madigan," August 8, 2016
- ↑ FOX 32, "Court rules in Mike Madigan's favor in dirty tricks allegation," March 8, 2021
- ↑ NBC Chicago, "Tribune Endorses Newcomer Jason Gonzales Over Michael Madigan for State Rep," March 2, 2016
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Speaker Madigan gets a challenge, for a change," March 11, 2016
