The Democrats running for the nomination for Illinois attorney general claim to be tailor-made for the post–even as they tailor the job description to their resumes.
State Sen. Lisa Madigan (D-Chicago)–a 35-year-old lawyer with roots in neighborhood activism–thinks the jobholder ought to be an advocate with close community ties.
John Schmidt–a former associate U.S. attorney general–believes Illinois’ top lawyer should act with sweeping law enforcement authority.
But one overarching issue in the race has nothing to do with credentials or vision. It is the formidable power of Rep. Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), the speaker of the Illinois House, leader of the state Democratic Party and–most to the point–the senator’s father.
He has pulled plenty of strings to help her in the March 19 primary.
That has left Lisa Madigan struggling to demonstrate independence while still leveraging her father’s political clout. Schmidt, meanwhile, is battling not just his opponent but the patriarchal might behind her.
In the process, the two have become engaged in a debate about what kind of credentials Illinois voters want to see in their top lawyer.
Madigan’s legal experience pales next to Schmidt’s. So her supporters–a clout-studded lineup of top Democrats and union leaders paying homage as much to her father as to the candidate–argue it’s more important for the attorney general to be a good administrator.
Schmidt, 58, is a veteran lawyer, served as a top Justice Department official during the Clinton administration and has extensive experience arguing before appellate courts. So he says voters crave someone familiar with the legal system.
Eight years out of law school, Madigan is clearly on the political fast track.
She did undergraduate studies at Georgetown University, worked for former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, taught high school in South Africa and then returned to Chicago, where she served as an administrator at the adult-education center at Wright College and studied law at Loyola University. She also helped found and run Inspiration Cafe, a program in the Uptown neighborhood to feed the homeless.
As attorney general, Madigan says, she would be an advocate for the disenfranchised, insisting on laws to protect consumers and the elderly and representing their legal rights.
“I’ve spent my life engaged with people, at a political level as well as a community level,” said Madigan. “To me, those things are linked. You can’t be a public servant without being out on the street, organizing after-school programs, working with senior citizens.”
Madigan worked for four years at the Loop law firm of Sachnoff and Weaver, a practice specializing in corporate securities and anti-trust litigation. Partner Lowell Sachnoff said she handled a number of cases that were settled out of court while assisting more senior members of the firm in trial work.
In 1998, she was elected to the 17th District Senate seat on the North Side, capitalizing on the help of her father. It also didn’t hurt that she was running against Bruce Farley, an incumbent hobbled by federal corruption charges.
In the Senate, Madigan says most of her ideas for bills come from police and community advocacy groups. She passed legislation increasing penalties for the abuse of elderly and disabled people and for violence in or near a domestic violence shelter.
Another Madigan bill, stalled in the Senate, would have set up a unit in the attorney general’s office to intervene in prosecution of domestic violence and sexual assault cases.
Unlike Madigan, Schmidt has never held elective office but has wide experience as a lawyer. Currently on leave as a partner of the Loop law firm Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw, he has argued often before the Illinois Supreme Court, the Illinois Appellate Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals. He also served as Mayor Richard Daley’s first chief of staff, as well as head of the agency that runs Navy Pier and McCormick Place.
Despite his later ties to Daley, Schmidt, a Harvard Law School graduate, made his name in progressive politics at the 1972 Democratic convention by helping to bounce a delegation of regular Illinois Democrats led by the mayor’s father, Mayor Richard J. Daley.
During the Clinton administration, Schmidt served as ambassador and chief negotiator for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, then became an associate U.S. attorney general. There he established the Violence Against Women Office, defended federal affirmative action programs, enforced federal law protecting access to abortion clinics and fought employment discrimination.
Said Abner Mikva, a former congressman and former federal appellate judge: “John Schmidt is probably the most qualified candidate for attorney general in the history of Illinois.”
Schmidt’s resume is not his problem. Mike Madigan is.
Endorsements have been hard to come by. Even Daley has taken the politically pragmatic route and backed Madigan’s daughter.
Candidate Madigan also has a much fatter campaign bankroll and help from staffers paid by the Democratic Party of Illinois, which, under her father’s leadership, makes her the only endorsed Democrat in a contested statewide primary.
Schmidt contends that many elected officials say they would back him if they didn’t fear retribution from Mike Madigan.
“People have said, “I’d like to help you, but I don’t want to get myself at odds with the speaker,'” he said.
Lisa Madigan vows to be an independent attorney general and notes that in the Senate she has voted against high-profile measures backed by her father.
“Do I recognize that he’s important and powerful?” she asks. “Yes. But he has always been an amazing and responsible and loving father. That is his role in my life.”
Schmidt thinks something else is on the line this spring.
“One of my functions in this campaign is to liberate people from their fear of Mike Madigan,” he said. “Some people still need a little more liberation.”
