Lake County Gazette

Ted Dabrowski isn't surprised to see Mike Madigan walking away from the world of Illinois' politics.

"He's been losing power and influence within his own party for a while now, and this is just the next step," Dabrowski, president of conservative government watchdog Wirepoints, told the Lake County Gazette. "We can speculate some of that has to do with the fallout from the ComEd scandal, but it's got to be hard to go from making all the decisions to just some of them and being totally ignored about others."

After almost four decades of running the House, Madigan announced earlier this month that he is immediately retiring from state politics.

His resignation from the District 22 House seat and as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party comes just weeks after he was replaced as House Speaker by state Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch (D-Hillside).

That change came after nearly two dozen Democratic House members took the hardline stance not to support Madigan in his reelection efforts as the speaker.

The state's longest-serving lawmaker, Madigan, has been linked to a federal Department of Justice corruption investigation about an alleged pay-to-play scheme. At least four individuals with known ties to him have been indicted, and ComEd was slapped with a $200 million fine but did not admit any wrongdoing.

Madigan has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing.

Even with Madigan no longer in Springfield, Dabrowski said he doesn't expect to see things change regarding how Democratic lawmakers operate.

"The machine is still in place, and it's fully developed to do what it does," he said. "I really think the new leaders will look to operate in the same ways as Madigan, just maybe not as well."