Madigan To Seek Re-Election, Not Run For Governor

After months of speculation that Gov. Pat Quinn would face a primary challenge from Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Madigan said she will not run for governor.

Madigan will seek a fourth term instead of challenging Quinn for the Democratic nomination. In a statement, she said deciding her political future has not been easy.

In a nod to Quinn's poor favorability in polls and frequent criticism from within his own ranks, Madigan writes she considered running because "of the need for effective management from that office and the frustration so many of us feel about the current lack of progress on critical issues facing Illinois."

But in the end, it came down to her father, longtime Speaker of the Illinois House, Mike Madigan.

The attorney general said that with her father planning to continue in that office, she will not run for governor. She writes that the "state would not be well served by having a governor and speaker of the house from the same family."

Speaker Madigan has been under scrutiny since revelations last week that he allegedly tried using his political clout to force the suburban rail agency Metra to give one of his and his daughter's campaign contributors a raise.

Lisa Madigan's decision to again run for attorney general will cause waves amongst various politicians who had been hoping to run for her position.

Quinn could still face a primary challenge from Bill Daley, who says Madigan's decision not to run for governor gives voters "a clear choice'' in the Democratic primary next spring.

"This is as big a political earthquake in Illinois as I can remember in an awful long time because it has implications up and down the ballot," said Dave Lundy, a campaign strategist in Chicago.

Lundy said Lisa Madigan is so popular that she was widely seen as holding up the line of politicians from both parties hoping to run for statewide offices.

Lundy also said Madigan’s statement is stunning - because it airs a potential conflict within the Madigan family - when they have traditionally been discreet and private.