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Lisa Madigan Not Seeking Reelection

Lisa Madigan at Inauguration 2015
Brian Mackey
/
NPR Illinois
Attorney General Lisa Madigan speaks after being inaugurated to her fourth term in January 2015.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan says she’s not running for re-election.

The surprise announcement comes midway through her fourth term.

Madigan has been attorney general since 2003, and has focused much of her energy on consumer protection. The Democrat has filed lawsuits over student debt, worker abuse, and drug prices.

That’s led some Republicans to say she ought to have spent more time fighting public corruption.

Still, Madigan has been popular with voters, winning re-election three times with anywhere from 60 to 70 percent of the vote.

Madigan isn’t saying what’s next — just that she’ll continue to work on “helping people."

She's long been talked about as a potential candidate for governor, but said she would never run for the office as long as her father, Michael Madigan, remains speaker of the Illinois House.

The Illinois Republican Party says Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan's decision not to seek re-election is a sign the Madigan family brand is "toxic.''

The Republican party-backed candidate for attorney general is Erika Harold, a lawyer and former Miss America.

Brian Mackey formerly reported on state government and politics for NPR Illinois and a dozen other public radio stations across the state. Before that, he was A&E editor at The State Journal-Register and Statehouse bureau chief for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
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