Dan Caulkins argues the ongoing sexual harassment scandal dogging House Speaker Mike Madigan's (D-Chicago) office exposes another harsh reality about Democrats.
“It shows how shallow their whole pro-women stance is,” Caulkins told the Chambana Sun. “The reality is they continue to suppress women. For some reason, a few radical women’s groups have continued to deny. This kind of blind allegiance has led to many Democratic leaders have the kind of attitude that they have.”
The latest controversy has some lawmakers calling for Madigan’s resignation after allies of the longtime speaker allegedly sought to retaliate against Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) for raising questions about his handling of sexual harassment allegations made against an aide.
Dan Caulkins
The Chicago Tribune reported Cassidy maintains she was forced to resign from her part-time job in Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s office after she questioned Madigan about his handling of sexual harassment claims in his political and government organizations.
Since then, Madigan has denied any involvement and is now calling for a watchdog group to oversee the ongoing investigation of sexual harassment.
“What this says about Madigan is that he’s out of step, more interested in his own power, money and interests instead of the welfare of voters,” said Caulkins, a Decatur Republican running against Democrat Jennifer McMillin for the seat being vacated by Rep. Bill Mitchell (R-Forsyth) in the 101st District. “Can you imagine, to take revenge, he called the boss of a single mom trying to care for her family.”
Caulkins said it’s the same ruthless attitude Madigan has always governed with, including allowing the inspector general post in Springfield to languish unfilled for nearly three years.
“It’s the result of him being in absolute power,” Caulkins said. “For whatever reason, he wanted to ignore that as if it never happened and you see how it turned out.”
The 101st House District includes parts of Champaign, McLean, Dewitt, Macon and Piatt counties.
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