Madigan, Moylan need to go if Illinois is to grow, GOP opponent says

SPRINGFIELD/DES PLAINES (Heartland Newsfeed) — House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) and State Representative Martin Moylan (D-Des Plaines) must be ousted in next year’s elections to ensure a better future for the state, according to a one-time campaign opponent of Moylan.

“The only way to get the state back on track is ousting Speaker Madigan,” said Mel Thillens, Moylan’s former opponent who currently serves as park board commissioner in Park Ridge and president of Maine Township. “The only way to do that is to stop sending Madigan toadies like Moylan to Springfield. This is especially true in the suburbs. We live in the Ohio and Florida of Illinois — the swing districts. The political tide can only change if it changes here.”

Thillens made the comments a few weeks after a mailer went out toward the end of June, as well as earlier this month, to registered voters within the 55th House district that was critical toward Moylan getting “chummy” with Madigan, blaming both for the ongoing budget fight that took place in Springfield.

The Illinois General Assembly overrode Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto July 6, which had $5.4 billion in excessive expenditures with a tax hike of the same with no reforms at all, ending a three-year stalemate.

The mailers, which were paid for by the Illinois Republican Party, were an attempt by Governor Bruce Rauner to “bash state legislators agreeing with him on the budget,” according to a piece written by Moylan in Journal & Topics.

“The Governor is spending millions of dollars to get his way in Springfield,” according to the article. “He has a lot of money and he’s sending this junk out. It’s all part of the game and political process.”

Thillens agrees that the criticisms toward Moylan in the mailer were justified.

“If you see his vote on the budget, it is obvious that Moylan is a classic politician,” Thillens said. “He waited to the very end of the vote to make sure it would pass and then took the political easy way out. I’m sure he was taught how to do that by Speaker Madigan. Marty’s not bright enough to figure that out on his own. Anyone, especially anyone in print media, who would take Representative Moylan at face value after seeing his actions in Springfield loses credibility.”

Journal & Topics has often showed biased support toward Moylan, covering his annual Breakfast for Veterans, his sponsorship of last month’s Community Shred Day and even an endorsement less than a week before the election last year. Moylan was re-elected to the House with almost 60 percent of the vote, defeating Republican challenger Dan Gott

Stated in the J&T endorsement under the headline “Send Hard Worker Moylan Back To Springfield”: “There’s no one in Springfield who works harder than the former alderman and mayor of Des Plaines and current state representative from the 55th District, Marty Moylan.”

Thillens, sales and operations vice president for armored vehicle firm Thillens Inc, unsuccessfully ran against Moylan in 2014 and was a candidate last fall in the Illinois Senate’s 28th District and was narrowly defeated by former Des Plaines alderman and incumbent Sen. Laura Murphy.

The closely-knit relationship between Moylan and Madigan is well-documented, with Moylan being caught on video cheering, “Who do we like? Mike!” shortly after Madigan was re-elected as speaker of the House in January, which resulted in Moylan being taken to a Chicago Bulls game by City of Des Plaines’ lobbyist Al Ronan within days following the vote.

“At home, Moylan tells everyone he’s independent and won’t even admit to voting for Madigan for speaker,” Thillens said. “Then he’s caught on video in Springfield literally leading pro-Madigan cheers. Like the politician he is, Moylan talks out of both sides of his mouth.”

This relationship causes trouble for some legislators, where a recent Capitol Fax/We Ask America public opinion poll puts more blame on Speaker Madigan than Gov. Rauner, 55% to 34%, out of 1,231 registered Illinois voters who responded to the poll.

Jake Leonard

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Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.

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