Kankakee Times

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride, who is seeking another 10-year term on the court Nov. 3, faces a contentious retention election.

Kilbride must receive at least 60% of the vote in the Third Judicial Circuit to be retained, WGLT reported. Kilbride, first elected in 2000, was retained in 2010 and he has launched his new retention campaign this week.

"Kilbride is Madigan’s puppet on the Illinois Supreme Court," Lyle Behrends, Iroquois County Republican chairman, said. "Kilbride blocked term limits and wrote the opinion to strike down fair maps to protect Madigan’s control over the state, hurting people here in Iroquois County. We deserve better and that’s why every voter should vote no on Kilbride in November."

The justice's last retention campaign was one of the most expensive in the nation for its type, the Daily Herald reported.

Opposition and support for Kilbride’s retention is making it a contentious election. The Daily Journal reported that the Illinois Democratic Party has donated $1.4 million this year to get Kilbride back on the state's high court.

His 2010 campaign was mainly bankrolled by House Speaker Michael Madigan. Kilbride raised $2.48 million in 2010, the money largely coming from Madigan and organized labor, reported the Chicago Tribune. The Democratic Party of Illinois, run by Madigan donated $1.42 million to get Kilbride retained.

The ties between Kilbride and Madigan are extensive.

Kilbride blocked an initiative that would have redrawn legislative district maps in 2016. Kilbride and three other justices halted a ballot initiative that would have authorized a citizen commission to draw legislative maps, the Madison-St. Clair Record reported.

The justices sided with eight Madigan-allied plaintiffs who sued on behalf of “Peoples Map,” challenging “Independent Maps” in Cook County on behalf of Illinois voters who demanded a change in the way legislative maps are drawn. The current maps allow Madigan to retain control of state government.

The lead plaintiff in the legislative district lawsuit was John Hooker, who formerly directed governmental relations for Commonwealth Edison. Frank Clark, the second plaintiff, was another ComEd official.

Hooker and Clark retired in 2012 after a statewide tax increase was approved to improve their two nuclear power plants in Clinton and Byron, the Madison-St. Clair Record reported.

ComEd has admitted publicly that it provided favors to Madigan in exchange for his support on the tax increase. Madigan pitched a $2.35 million bailout of ComEd's nuclear power plans as a green energy bill, and Com Ed said it paid Madigan's friends more than $1.3 million as phony subcontractors and retained a law firm it didn't need.

ComEd accepted criminal responsibility in U.S. district court in July, agreeing to pay a $200 million penalty. Madigan alleges he did not know about the claims made by ComEd executives, reported the Madison-St. Clair Record.

Another conflict involved Kilbride and other justices who accepted campaign contributions from the two sides in the debate over pension-reform law, reported the Daily Herald.

The Madison St. Clair Record reported on numerous cases over the years that showed Kilbride’s voting record often sided with plaintiffs as a lone dissenter on the court.