Attorney General Lisa Madigan won’t seek new term in 2018

SPRINGFIELD (Heartland Newsfeed) — Four-term Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Friday she will not run for re-election in 2018, reversing plans announced earlier this summer.

“I still have much work to do on many important issues, and I will continue to give my best to the people of Illinois and the office of attorney general every day through the end of my term in January 2019,” Madigan, a 51-year-old Democrat, said in a statement.

She said it’s time “to seek a new challenge” and did not rule out a future campaign for office, but said it won’t come next year. She said in May she would seek a fifth term.

Her father, longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, praised her achievements.

“No father could be prouder of his daughter’s personal and professional accomplishments, and I look forward to watching her continue her commitment to helping people in a new capacity,” he said in a statement.

Lisa Madigan told Rich Miller she is not running for anything in 2018, when state executive offices are up for election.

The election for Chicago mayor is in February 2019, but Miller said Madigan gave him “an unequivocal no” on seeking that office.

Madigan considered a gubernatorial run four years ago but announced she’d seek re-election instead. In a 2013 statement, she said the state “would not be well-served by having a governor and speaker of the House from the same family.”

After serving in the Illinois Senate, she was elected Illinois’ first female Attorney General in a tight race in 2002. She handily won re-election each of the next three elections and is the longest-serving Attorney General in the state’s history.

Word of an open race for Illinois attorney general was expected to generate furious scrambling for next year’s contest. The Republican party-backed candidate for attorney general is Erika Harold, a lawyer and former Miss America. Signs are showing that the Libertarian, Green and Constitution parties are putting out feelers for their own candidates as well.

“Throughout her life as an individual and as a public servant, Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s achievements have been the result of her determination to fight for her convictions and to stand up for what she believed was right,” her father said in the statement. “I’ve always been proud of her desire to fight for those who need help the most, which has driven her sense of duty as a person and as Illinois’ attorney general.

“It has been my privilege to watch her fight for the people of Illinois and do the right thing every day. She has authored tougher laws against criminals who prey on children and victims of sexual assault, fought for homeowners faced with losing their homes, and worked to ensure a more open and transparent state government.