The man who challenged Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and lost in the Democratic primary this year has filed a federal lawsuit against Madigan, accusing him of fraud and defamation.
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Gonzalez named the 45-year incumbent, the speaker’s political funds, a top aide and his two other opponents, among others, in a 39-count lawsuit over an alleged scheme to swing the four-way race in the speaker’s favor.
GONZALES: This isn’t about me being a sore loser. The Harvard-educated management consultant received a pardon from then-Gov.
The lawsuit also alleges Madigan put up two fake candidates with “Hispanic surnames” to dilute the Latino vote.
Madigan said in a statement that the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, was “without merit”. After Jim Edgar and George Ryan did not grant his request, Pat Quinn on January 9, 2015, issued a full pardon and record clearing.
“Madigan won because he engaged in dirty, illegal, fraudulent tactics”, Gonzales, who finished second in his bid to topple Madigan with 27 percent of the vote, said in a telephone interview.
Gonzales and his attorney, former Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica planned to speak with reporters about the suit later Monday. It isn’t about me crying because I lost, it’s about justice.
Madigan said in a statement that Gonzales himself acknowledged during the campaign and again in the lawsuit filed late Friday that he had been convicted of felonies. “Voters of my district soundly renominated me based on my strong record of service, giving me more than 65 percent of the vote, and they emphatically rejected Jason Gonzales because they knew he couldn’t be trusted”. Madigan easily won the March primary contest, pulling in 65 percent of the vote. “I am an independent, progressive Democrat who’s running to change IL”. Neither of the candidates, who collectively received almost 8 percent of the vote, actively campaigned. Madigan accused Republican Governor Bruce Rauner of propping up Gonzales.
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A Madigan supporter, according to the lawsuit, filed nominating petitions for candidates Joe Barbosa and Grasiela Rodriguez shortly after Gonzales submitted his paperwork, which he turned in about 15 minutes before the filing deadline. In addition to a jury trial, Gonzales seeks “substantial compensatory and punitive damages” as well as legal fees.
