Sen. Madigan resigning for job on Illinois Industrial Commission
By DOUG FINKE
STATE CAPITOL BUREAU

Longtime state Sen. Robert Madigan, R-Lincoln, is resigning to take a job on the Illinois Industrial Commission.
Madigan, a senator since 1987, will resign effective Saturday and begin his job on the commission Monday.
"The governor asked me if I was interested in a position of this nature," Madigan said. "I said I was. I thought it was a great opportunity for me."
Madigan's term expires in January 2003, and like other lawmakers, he would have had to run in a district with new boundaries because of census-required redistricting. However, Madigan said remapping had nothing to do with his decision.
"I believe, with my record in the Senate and my involvement in the process over the last 15 years, I could have run and won," he said. "When I (first) decided to run, I decided I did not want to be in the legislature the rest of my life."
Madigan, 58, was elected to the Senate in 1986. That's also the last year he faced an opponent of any kind. Prior to that, Madigan served 11 years as Lincoln city clerk.
He will be paid $101,790 as a member of the Illinois Industrial Commission, which resolves disputes over worker compensation claims. Madigan received $64,269 in the legislature between his base salary and additional pay he got as chairman of the Senate Insurance and Pensions Committee. Madigan's appointment to the commission is subject to Senate approval.
The 45th Senate District that Madigan represented includes all of Logan, Mason and DeWitt counties, most of Tazewell and Woodford counties, and parts of McLean and Piatt counties.
Just last month, former state Rep. John Turner, R-Atlanta, who represented the southern portion of Madigan's Senate district, resigned to become an appellate judge. Republican county chairmen who just finished the process of finding his successor must start all over again now to find Madigan's replacement.
"I have no personal preferences," said Claude Stone, who as Tazewell County Republican chairman controls 45 percent of the weighted vote in choosing Madigan's replacement. "Everybody who applies will be heard."
The other state representative from Madigan's Senate district is Rep. Keith Sommer, R-Mackinaw. He could not be reached for comment on whether he would seek to replace Madigan.
Mason County Republican chairwoman Mary Jane Jones said she expects many of the same candidates who vied to be Turner's replacement to now seek to replace Madigan. They include: Tim Sickmeyer, chief of investigations for the state Department of Natural Resources Police and vice chairman of the Mason County GOP; former LeRoy Mayor Jerry Davis; former Lincoln Mayor John Guzzardo; Lois Olson of Elkhart, sister-in-law to former state Rep. Bob Olson of Broadwell; DeWitt County GOP chairman Jared Hooker; and George Davis of Lincoln, a nursing home administrator.
Doug Finke can be reached at 788-1527 or doug.finke@sj-r.com.