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* Rep. Frank Mautino (D-Spring Valley) has had an unexpectedly tough campaign this year. So that may explain his refusal to answer a question posed by the Ottawa Times…

Would you work for or against the reelection of Mike Madigan as Speaker of the House?

Mautino: If the speaker is re-elected in his district and the Democrats maintain the majority in the House he will most likely be re-elected. I will work with whoever is speaker and governor to ensure that the people of La Salle, Bureau, Putnam and Livingston counties receive the necessary funds, services and relief in times of need in order to keep the Illinois Valley moving forward.

Frank is a Deputy Majority Leader, for crying out loud.

* His opponent’s answer…

: Speaker Madigan has a low approval rating of 23 percent for a reason. The people of Illinois do not respect him and want him removed from office. I would, indeed, try to convince my Democrat counterparts to vote for someone else.

Illinois lacks a balance of power and has for many years. This is why Illinois is in deep trouble. If Speaker Madigan wants anything, he tells his budget point man (my opponent) to write it into the budget and the super majority passes it. In this last budget, my opponent approved spending nearly $3 billion more than the expected Illinois revenues. Yet, this irresponsible budget passed without a single favorable Republican vote. This lack of fiscal accountability proves that Speaker Madigan and my opponent should not be re‑elected.

posted by Rich Miller
Sunday, Nov 2, 14 @ 1:08 pm

Comments

An interesting statewide advisory referendum question that we will never see, but which would be interesting:

“Should there be limits on the length of time that an individual representative should serve as Speaker of the House or State Senate President?”

Hard to imagine that not passing without large majorities in about one hundred rep districts.

Comment by Under Further Review Sunday, Nov 2, 14 @ 1:21 pm
Fran Hurley will never run away.

Comment by Cinnamon Sunday, Nov 2, 14 @ 1:26 pm
Mike Madigan bit my cat, invented acid rain and steals apples from babies

Comment by Ghost Sunday, Nov 2, 14 @ 1:42 pm
@UFR

How about an open primary?

Make him run against a democrat, that would make things interesting. And how about repubs in the general running against reprissenna Leitch or Don Moffitt… or Darin Lahood. So many worthless blamers that need to go.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Sunday, Nov 2, 14 @ 2:03 pm
So I suppose Mr. Long, if elected, will vote for someone else besides House GOP boss Durkin? He says if elected, he would work to convince his colleagues to vote for someone else?

Pray tell, who would that be? I’m sure Jim is happy to hear this.

Comment by low level Sunday, Nov 2, 14 @ 3:54 pm
Wow, what a cop out, doublespeak answer Frank. Why not just say you won’t vote for Madigan for speaker then do it anyway? Never stopped you before.

Comment by Jessica Hyde Sunday, Nov 2, 14 @ 6:20 pm
If I were in Madigan’s district I would never vote for anyone else.

Comment by Cheryl44 Sunday, Nov 2, 14 @ 9:23 pm
It’s not surprising that Mautino would speak carefully when he has a Republican target on his back. The Illinois Republican Party has dumped over $100,000 on negative mailers that have flooded the mailboxes of the district. Why give them a quote they could put on a flier?

Mautino serves his district. How would voting against Madigan help his district? It’s usually better to be in the room where the decisions are made rather than out in the hall waiting for the results.

Would the state be better served by a new Speaker? Perhaps. Will there be a new Speaker? No.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Sunday, Nov 2, 14 @ 10:02 pm
I would add that the Speaker’s instructions are probably to answer exactly as Mautino did.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Sunday, Nov 2, 14 @ 10:40 pm
Mr. Mautino has also spent over $100,000 on his campaign. What has he spent it on? Golf and pizza.

Seriously, check the records. He’s spent tens of thousands of dollars on golf and pizza.

Comment by manager Sunday, Nov 2, 14 @ 11:04 pm
Voters are eager to show Mr. Mautino how much they enjoy the Illinois that he and his party have given us. So, he has reasons to be concerned over his future.

Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Nov 3, 14 @ 7:56 am
name me a more effective advocate for his district and downstate in general, of either party. he”s better than the next 5 combined

Comment by goose/gander Monday, Nov 3, 14 @ 8:19 am
Vanilla Man - I’d say Illinois’ current condition is largely a result of pension underfunding by Jim Thompson and Jim Edgar.

Comment by Smitty Irving Monday, Nov 3, 14 @ 8:22 am
Frank Mautino is probably one of the best, if not the best, legislator in Springfield. He has worked effectively with both Republicans and Democrats anytime there is an important issue in his district or in the state. When you ask Frank for his help, he doesn’t ask if you are Democrat or a Republican, he just goes to work to try to help. Anyone who would vote against him in his district, and risk the access and influence in Springfield that he brings home, is not thinking straight. He will win because he has support from many Republicans as well as Democrats.

Comment by nobody Monday, Nov 3, 14 @ 8:34 am
Frank should remind his constituents that his father once voted against Madigan for speaker and he’s tried to be an independent thinker like his father.

Comment by Louis Howe Monday, Nov 3, 14 @ 9:33 am
Mautino came out with a last minute postcard mailer that said his opponent was delinquent paying his property taxes, and thus cannot be trusted with the State’s money.

Ouch!

Comment by Streator Curmudgeon Monday, Nov 3, 14 @ 2:29 pm
It’s too late for any of that to make much of a difference. People aren’t going to stay home from the polls because a candidate may or may not have been late with an installment of his real estate taxes.

Truth be told, the 76th district is filled with Reagan Democrats, so the only kind of Republican who could win is Long, a union man who promotes Friedman economics and has been hammering Mautino on his Madigan ties and his votes for Chicago pork.

But Mautino really lost the election on 3 things — his sister’s facebook rant that made the Mautino family look like power-hungry nutcases, Quinn’s IDOT hiring scandal that actually named friends of Mautino who used clout to get hired, and the photo of the Sanford-and-Son style pickup truck and box trailer littered with Democrat signs that they parked right out in front of Jerry Long’s office.

Long tapped into a public sentiment that was anti-incumbent. And the incumbent really didn’t do much to help himself but go to ribbon-cutting after ribbon-cutting and tout more pork.

Comment by manager Monday, Nov 3, 14 @ 5:19 pm