The Most Important Race in Illinois in 2016

With contested presidential primaries in both the Republican and Democratic Party, it will be hard to focus on the state legislative races that will be on the March 15^th ballot. But with Illinois and Chicago both facing terrible fiscal crises with no end in sight, voters would be well-served by better reporting on several of the important legislative primary races.

Former Quinn staffer Theresa Mah is offering south side voters a choice between fresh leadership or a continuation of the Acevedo political dynasty, as State Representative Eddie Acevedo tries to bequeath his seat to his son, Alex. Chicago Votes co-founder Harish Patel is challenging the Mell machine and their current state representative, Jaime Andrade.

But the most important race on the ballot on March 15^th is the Democratic primary for State Representative in the 15^th District, where longtime incumbent John D’Amico is being challenged by community leader Jac Charlier. This race is so crucial because it is an especially clear test of whether voters are finally willing to stand up to entrenched interests and begin working on solutions to the problems facing Illinois.

1.      This race is a referendum on Mike Madigan. Since the end of Jim Thompson era, no political leader in Illinois has loomed larger than House Speaker Michael Madigan. Any effort to solve our truly dire fiscal straits involves confronting his legacy. This legacy includes years of unbalanced budgets, payrolls stuffed with cronies, and contracts given to top donors.

John D’Amico has been a loyal Madigan lieutenant since arriving in Springfield in January 2005. Jac Charlier has proposed limits to the number of years that someone can serve as Speaker or Minority Leader (also Senate President or Minority Leader). Charlier’s proposal would prevent the accumulation of power that has made Madigan so difficult to challenge.

2.      This race is a referendum on the state budget stalemate.

One of the most frustrating things about the current budget stalemate, which has been so damaging for our most vulnerable citizens who depend on many state services, is that it has shut down real debate. Everyone has retrenched behind their party’s leadership and stopped doing the hard labor of working together to address the crisis consuming our state. John D’Amico has joined with his Democratic colleagues in denouncing Rauner, but he hasn’t been working across the aisle to develop a realistic budget.

As a Democrat, I have no problem criticizing Rauner’s awful behavior during this budget crisis. He has abdicated any claim to being the leader Illinois so desperately needs. But what Charlier understands is that when the leaders in both parties fail, it is time for the rank-and-file to step up. Charlier is willing to work with legislators in both parties in good faith. More importantly, he is trying to build a citizen’s movement that will apply constant pressure on politicians to put the needs of the people first. He has years of experience creating community, most notably as the co-founder of Fair Allocations in Runways (FAiR), so this type of movement building comes naturally to him.

3.      This race is a referendum on the pension crisis.

This is the 800 pound gorilla of Illinois politics these days. There are two steps in dealing with political crisis caused by the pension crisis. First, vote out of office all of the politicians who voted for pension holidays, who underfunded the pension year after year, and who kept pensions “off the books” to deceive voters (and journalists) about the magnitude of the crisis. Even worse, when the scale of the pension problem they created became obvious, these same politicians took it out on the public employees by trying to cut their pensions!

John D’Amico proudly voted for the pension holidays, the budgets that underfunded the state pension funds, and the pension cuts for state workers. Jac Charlier is the only candidate in Illinois who I am aware of, who has put his name on a plan to resolve the pension crisis over the next 30-40 years. That plan, informed by work done by the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, includes renegotiating our pension debt to end the destructive and unrealistic pension ramp, and – just to be clear – tax increases to address the pension crisis.

The most underfunded of the five main state pension funds is the General Assembly Retirement System. It pays the second highest level of benefits, over $56,000 a year but it has almost twice as many retirees receiving benefits as it does active members paying into the system. This is completely unsustainable and it means that the taxpayers will be left on the hook for the bill.

But – wait a minute – being a legislator is a part-time job. Why is anybody getting a pension for a part-time job! John D’Amico will get two full-time pensions when he retires; one from his government job with the City of Chicago, the other his legislative pension. Jac Charlier will not accept a pension and he will propose legislation to end the pension system for legislators.

The voters in the 15^th District have a choice between two clear positions, John D’Amico’s “stay the course” agenda or Jac Charlier’s “Time to Fix Illinois” agenda. I believe that one strong voice advocating for change can make a difference, if they are willing to challenge the powers that be. There is no stronger voice for change on this year’s ballot than Jac Charlier.

Josh Kilroy is a Democratic campaign consultant currently running a race in Milwaukee, WI. For four months, he served as Jac Chalier’s campaign manager.