Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan will seek an unprecedented fifth term next year, according to the Illinois Policy Institute.
Madigan, a Democrat from Chicago, is already the longest-serving attorney general in Illinois history, having held the post since 2003. Her stepfather is Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, who has held that position for 32 of the last 34 years and is the longest-serving speaker in modern political history.
The institute said Lisa Madigan considered a run for governor in 2013, but after her stepfather made it clear he would not resign his speakership, she thought better of it.
“I feel strongly that the state would not be well-served by having a governor and speaker of the House from the same family and have never planned to run for governor if that would be the case,” Lisa Madigan said in a statement later posted by the institute. “With Speaker Madigan planning to continue in office, I will not run for governor.”
Political commentator Rich Miller told the Policy Institute that he is not surprised by Madigan’s decision.
“Maybe she expected her father would step aside, but nobody who knew him thought he would,” he said.
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