Finally, let's work together and break the machine in IL-3

I’ve lived in Illinois my entire life. Ask most people who have lived here for a long time, I doubt you’ll find someone who can remember a time before Mike Madigan’s control over state politics. No other House speaker in the country has occupied this office as long as Madigan, whose career has been defined by power brokering and maintaining machine politics. Under Madigan’s long tenure, Illinois’ problems have gotten worse, while machine leaders like Chicago alderman Ed Burke have mixed their public office’s power to enhance their own private interests.

The politicians that run this machine have held their positions for decades, treating these offices as instruments of personal gain rather than public service. One of Madigan’s favorite members of Congress, Bill Lipinski, retired in 2005, passing the torch to his son Dan, who currently represents Illinois’ Third District. Bill moved on to become a lobbyist, deciding after years of public service and limited accomplishment that cashing out in the private sector was the best move. He used his position in the machine to replace his own name on the 2004 primary ballot with his son Dan, ensuring him a position without having to build any legitimate support of his own. The younger Lipinski maintains a conservative voting record, with opposition to Obamacare and immigration reform being central to his career.

The story of how Dan Lipinski got his position is simple--he was handed it by his father, and he’s used the Chicago machine plus support from the business establishment and large amounts of PAC money from special interest groups to keep that position. In the 2020 cycle alone, almost 60% of Dan Lipinski’s donations came from corporations. His continuing career is a testament to the power of the machine’s ability to operate without real accountability.

The only alternative to machine politics in the Third District is Marie Newman. Her 2018 run against Lipinski showed that the machine is beatable, she nearly ended Madigan’s grip over the Third District by running a grassroots campaign that rejected the corrupting influence of big money. Newman is not simply “running to the left” of Lipinski, one of the House’s most conservative Democrats; she’s running on behalf of those who don’t have the money to buy influence in the Chicago machine.

Unlike Lipinski, who relies on lobbyists and PACs to fund his campaigns, Newman gets over 95% of her money from individual contributions, without any corporate PAC money or the help of Madigan’s machine. Instead of amassing support from the Chicago establishment, Newman has the support of grassroots-activist organizations like Coalition for Change IL3, a network of progressive activist groups that are ready to have a true Democrat representing them in Washington. Her victory over Lipinski in the Third District would signal a much needed end to machine politics, ending the cronyism and patronage systems that only benefit the powerful, and bringing the change that Mike Madigan and Dan Lipinski have been stopping for years.