Lisa Madigan
Lisa Madigan (b. July 30, 1966, in Chicago, IL) was the Democratic attorney general of Illinois from 2003 to 2019. She was first elected in 2002 and became the first woman in the state's history to hold the position when she was sworn in the following January.
In a Huffington Post article published November 17, 2014, Madigan was identified as one of seven Democratic state executive officials who could gain national prominence.[1]
Biography
Madigan received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and a J.D. from Loyola University-Chicago School of Law.
Madigan worked as a lawyer, teacher, and community organizer. Madigan developed 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. After returning to the United States, she received her law degree and became a litigator for the Chicago-based law firm Sachnoff & Weaver.[2]
Education
- Bachelor's degree - Georgetown University (1988)
- Juris Doctor - Loyola University-Chicago School of Law
Political career
Attorney General of Illinois (2003-2019)
Madigan became the first woman attorney general of Illinois in 2002, defeating Republican Joe Birkett by just over 3 percent. She was re-elected in 2006, 2010, and 2014. Madigan served until 2019.
Illinois State Senate (1998-2002)
Madigan served as a member of the Illinois State Senate from 1998 to 2002.
Elections
2018
- See also: Illinois attorney general election, 2018
Lisa Madigan did not file to run for re-election.
2014
Madigan ran for re-election as attorney general of Illinois.[3] The general election took place on November 4, 2014.
Before announcing her bid for a fourth term as attorney general, Madigan had been considered a potential 2014 primary challenger to Democratic incumbent Governor of Illinois Pat Quinn, who ultimately lost his bid for re-election in 2014 to Republican Bruce Rauner. Madigan had disagreed with Quinn over his handling of state budget cuts in 2012. Polling figures from November 2012 showed Madigan as the frontrunner for a potential primary match-up with Quinn.[4] Her father's position in Illinois government was cited as the main reason why her 2014 gubernatorial campaign never materialized.[3][5]
Madigan was unopposed in the Democratic primary. She faced Paul Schimpf (R) and Ben Koyl (L) in the general election on November 4, 2014.
Results
| Attorney General of Illinois, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Lisa Madigan Incumbent |
59.5% | 2,142,558 | |
| Republican | Paul Schimpf | 37.8% | 1,360,763 | |
| Libertarian | Ben Koyl | 2.8% | 99,903 | |
| Total Votes | 3,603,224 | |||
| Election results via Illinois State Board of Elections | ||||
2010
- See also: Illinois Attorney General election, 2010
- 2010 Race for Attorney General - General Election
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - General Election[6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party |  Lisa Madigan
|
64.7% | |
| Republican Party | Stephen H. Kim | 31.6% | |
| Green Party | David Black | 2.2% | |
| Libertarian Party | William Malan | 1.5% | |
| Total Votes | 3,704,686 | ||
- 2010 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary[7]
- Lisa Madigan ran unopposed in this contest
2006
- 2006 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary[8]
- Lisa Madigan ran unopposed in this contest
| 2006 Race for Attorney General - General Election[9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party | Lisa Madigan
|
72.4% | |
| Republican Party | Stewart Umholtz | 24.3% | |
| Green Party | David Black | 3.3% | |
| Total Votes | 3,479,812 | ||
2002
| 2002 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary[10] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party | Lisa Madigan
|
58.2% | |
| Democratic Party | John Schmidt | 41.8% | |
| Total Votes | 1,199,440 | ||
| 2002 Race for Attorney General - General Election[11] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party | Lisa Madigan
|
50.4% | |
| Republican Party | Joe Birkett | 47.1% | |
| Libertarian Party | Gary L. Shilts | 2.5% | |
| Total Votes | 3,498,901 | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Noteworthy events
Concealed weapons ban
The United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit set a deadline of June 9, 2013, by which Illinois would have to allow the carrying of concealed weapons outside of homes. At the time, Illinois was the only state with a complete ban on carrying concealed weapons. In May 2013, Madigan asked for more time to decide how to handle the implementation of the court order. The United States Supreme Court gave an extension to July 9, 2013. On June 14, Madigan applied for a further extension of the deadline. In her filing, she stated that the lawyer had been unable to meet the deadline, saying, "Counsel's supervisory responsibilities over the Civil and Criminal Appeals Division of the Attorney General's Office-including editing and revising briefs and preparing attorneys for oral argument-have occupied a substantial amount of time in May and the first two weeks of June, 2013."[12][13]
On June 27, 2013, at an event sponsored by EMILY's List, a group that helps Democratic women get elected to public office, Madigan said she expected Governor Pat Quinn to sign a measure amending the state's blanket ban on the concealed carrying of firearms in public before the end of the legislative session.[14]
Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act
On March 11, 2013, Madigan, together with 12 other state attorneys general, sent a letter to Congress in support of the Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act, a bill that sought to ban for-profit colleges from using federal funds for marketing and recruiting techniques.[15] Senators Kay R. Hagan (D-NC) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who chaired the chamber's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, sponsored the bill. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) stated that the proposed law aimed to “ensure that scarce federal education dollars will be used to serve and educate students rather than to finance advertising campaigns, recruitment operations, and aggressive marketing.”[16]
In the letter, the attorneys general wrote, “Federal taxpayers should not be asked to foot the bill for aggressive recruiting and deceptive sales tactics of colleges that have placed profits ahead of ensuring student success.”[16] At the time, there were an estimated 3,000 for-profit schools nationwide, though neither the letter nor the bill cited the name of any specific institutions.[17]
On March 12, 2013, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, but no subsequent action was taken and the bill died in committee.[18] On April 23, 2013, a related bill—HR 340—was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce's subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, but it also died in committee.[19]
Same-sex marriage ban
In 1996, Illinois passed a law that established the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, effectively banning same-sex marriage within the state. After the law received legal challenges from gay couples whose requests for marriage licenses had been denied, Madigan and Alvarez, the Cook County state's attorney, refused to defend the ban on account of their belief that it violated the state constitution’s equal protection clause.[20]
On June 29, 2012, the Thomas More Society, a public-interest law firm, filed a request on behalf of two county clerks to intervene in the lawsuit and defend the ban.
Budget cuts
Madigan lobbied against Gov. Pat Quinn's (D) proposal for state budget cuts in 2012. According to Madigan, the attorney general's office produced $908 million in 2011—"nearly $30 for every $1 in tax money it spent"—but could not continue to generate revenue for the state because attorneys were leaving the office to seek higher-paying positions.[21]
Affordable Care Act
When President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law on March 23, 2009, Republican Congressman Aaron Schock issued a letter—sponsored by fellow Illinois representatives Judy Biggert, Peter Roskam, John Shimkus, Tim Johnson, and Don Manzullo—calling upon Madigan to join other state attorneys general in suing the federal government. Schock argued that the measure violated the Constitution and added that the bill would "add more than $1 billion in extra Medicaid costs to the state's obligations" by 2020.[22]
The same day, State Senate Majority Leader Christine Radogno requested that Madigan's office provide legal opinions to questions related to the passage of the healthcare bill. The first asked whether the mandatory insurance requirement violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution; the other asked whether or not it usurped powers reserved to the states relegated to them through the Tenth Amendment.[23]
Response to Senate Bill 189
Senate Bill 189 (SB 189) amended the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act by codifying the public access counselor (PAC) position within the attorney general's office and 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."[24] Madigan's office in May 2009 called the passage of SB 189 "a great victory for advocates of open and accountable government at all levels."[24][25]
ACORN
Madigan was one of six state attorneys general, all of whom belonged to the Democratic Party, who received a letter grade of A+ from the June 2008 Survey and Scorecard report published by the political organization ACORN. The group said that the report was published in order to highlight state attorneys general "leading the fight to protect homeowners from joining the flood of Americans losing their homes to foreclosure."[26]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Lisa + Madigan + Illinois + Attorney"
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
When she served as attorney general, Madigan resided in Chicago, Illinois, with her husband, cartoonist Pat Byrnes, and their two daughters.[2] Madigan's adoptive father is Michael Madigan, a Democratic state legislator and speaker of the House.[2]
Madigan received the following awards:[27]
- Abraham Lincoln Award (2004) from the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence (ICHV)
- New Frontier Award (2005) from John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum[28]
- 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
See also
| Illinois | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
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 |
 |
|
|
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- Attorney General of Illinois
- Illinois attorney general election, 2014
- Governor of Illinois
- Current Governor Patt Quinn
External links
- Social media:
- Summary, biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Profile at Wikipedia
- Campaign contributions at Follow The Money
- Works by or about Lisa Madigan in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Appearances at the Internet Movie Database
- Collected news and commentary at The Huffington Post
- Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- Collected news and commentary at the Chicago Tribune
- Collected news and video at WBEZ 91.5
- Column archive at The Huffington Post
- 2013 100 Most Powerful Chicagoans: 20. Lisa Madigan, Chicago magazine
Footnotes
- ↑ Huffington Post, "These Democrats Could Be The Party's Ticket To A Comeback," November 17, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Illinois Attorney General, "Biography of Lisa Madigan," accessed September 15, 2012
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Capitol Fax, "This just in… Lisa Madigan announces re-election bid," July 15, 2013
- ↑ Public Policy Polling, "Quinn extremely unpopular, Madigan would start out favored," November 29, 2012
- ↑ Public Policy Polling, "Quinn extremely unpopular, Madigan would start out favored," November 29, 2012
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections - 2010 General Election Results
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections - 2010 Primary Election Results
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections - 2006 Primary Election Results
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections - 2006 General Election Results
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections - 2002 Primary Election Results
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections - 2002 General Election Results
- ↑ Watchdog.org, "IL attorney general: I’m swamped and need more time for possible conceal carry appeal," June 17, 2013
- ↑ Watchdog Media, "Application for a Second Extension of Time in which to File a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit," accessed June 27, 2013
- ↑ The Chicago Tribune, "Concealed carry amendatory veto likely, Lisa Madigan says," June 27, 2013
- ↑ The Library of Congress, "Bill Text 113th Congress (2013-2014) S.528.IS," March 12, 2013
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 The Boston Globe, "Attorney generals to Congress: Don’t let for-profit colleges use federal grants and loans for advertising," March 17, 2013
- ↑ Commonwealth of Kentucky Office of the Attorney General, "Letter to Congress," March 11, 2013
- ↑ Congress.gov, "All Bill Information (Except Text) for S.528 - Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act," accessed August 7, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "All Bill Information (Except Text) for H.R.340 - Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act," accessed August 7, 2015
- ↑ The Associated Press, "Downstate clerks want to defend gay marriage ban," July 3, 2012
- ↑ The State-Journal Register, "Illinois AG pushes back on budget," March 7, 2012
- ↑ Illinois Review, "Illinois Republicans Call on Madigan to Challenging Constitutionality of Healthcare Bill" 23 March, 2010
- ↑ Illinois Review, "Radogno Asks AG Madigan About Constitutionality of Healthcare Plan" 23 March, 2010
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Illinois AG Lisa Madigan - Transparency Legislation Will Reform Open Government Laws in Illinois
- ↑ Illinois Review, "AG Madigan's Phony Bait-and-Switch FOIA Policy" 5 June, 2009
- ↑ ACORN "Attorneys General Take Action: Real Leadership in Fighting Foreclosures" June 2008
- ↑ David Freed for AG, "Endorsements," accessed February 15, 2012
- ↑ John F. Kennedy Library Foundation - Lisa Madigan biography
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jim Ryan (R) |
Illinois Attorney General 2003–2019 |
Succeeded by Kwame Raoul (D) |
| Preceded by Bruce A. Farley |
Illinois State Senate - District 17 1999–2003 |
Succeeded by District Merged |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
