Ashlee Rezin-Garcia/Sun-Times file
Mike Madigan has spent over $2.7 million on lawyers so far this year alone.
The Southwest Side Democrat is no longer the speaker of the Illinois House, a state representative or leader of the state Democratic Party.
But he’s still Public Official A, the name given to him in a federal document that implicates him in long bribery scheme that ended his political career and continues to cost him in legal fees.
A total of $6,798,304.20 to be precise.
That’s because the latest $2,744,828.83 comes on top of $4,053,475.37 Madigan had already shelled out to lawyers since early 2018, a total that included fighting lawsuits filed by former political rivals and other legal troubles.
Anthony Vazquez; Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file
SPRINGFIELD Four years after the Illinois race for governor broke national records for self-financing candidates, next year’s contest is shaping up to be another duel of the deep pockets.
Millionaire businessman Gary Rabine notified state election officials over the weekend that he had donated enough of his own cash to his newly minted gubernatorial campaign to lift all fundraising caps on the race.
The $250,390.04 the suburban Republican has kicked in pales in comparison to the $35 million that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker pumped into his own war chest last month.
But under Illinois’ arcane campaign finance laws, Rabine’s contributions triggered the lifting of the caps, because they were made within a year of the 2022 primary. Pritzker’s fell just outside that window.