Kankakee Times

The Illinois Republican Party has voiced fierce opposition over the potential return to the Legislature of Lisa Dugan, who was a state representative in the 79th District from 2003 to 2013. 

Dugan, a Democrat from Bradley who retired to spend more time with her family, had a record of voting for the legislative proposals of House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), which included raising taxes in Illinois. Her history shows that she should stay retired, Illinois GOP spokesman Aaron DeGroot said in a release.

“Why would Lisa Dugan return to Springfield? Her record is disastrous – Dugan voted Mike Madigan for Speaker four separate times, and worked with him to spend recklessly, hike taxes, skip pension payments and pass his gerrymandered legislative maps,” DeGroot said in the release. “It’s clear that Dugan is incapable of standing up to Madigan. The people of the 79th House District would be better off if Lisa Dugan stayed out of politics, rather than return to Springfield and work with Madigan to do more damage to Illinois.”

According to GOP, Dugan voted for a temporary 66 percent tax hike in 2011. A similar and permanent tax hike was passed this summer which raised the personal income tax rate to 4.95 percent from 3.75 percent and raised the corporate income tax rate to 7 percent from 5.25 percent. The tax hike was part of a compromise budget plan, something that Dugan allegedly never voted for, according to the GOP.

Dugan also voted for Madigan four times as speaker of the House and allegedly accepted over $650,000 in campaign money from Madigan’s political groups. She also voted for a $1.1 billion pension package

Many conservatives have alleged that Dugan's return to politics may be a response to Rep. Lindsay Parkhurst (R-Kankakee), who took office in January 2017 after beating Rep. Kate Cloonen (D-Kankakee) in the elections.

Whatever the case may be, the state GOP fears that Dugan will be just another “rubber stamp” for Madigan and his agenda.

The 79th House District includes parts of Kankakee, Grundy and Will counties.