Lisa Madigan

Lisa Madigan
Madigan testifying before the United States Senate, 2011
41st Illinois Attorney General
Incumbent
Assumed office January 13, 2003
Governor	Rod Blagojevich Pat Quinn
Preceded by	Jim Ryan
Member of the Illinois Senate from the 17 district
In office January 13, 1999 – January 7, 2003
Preceded by	Bruce A. Farley
Succeeded by	District merged
Personal details
Born	(1966-07-30) July 30, 1966 Chicago, Illinois
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Pat Byrnes
Alma mater	Loyola University Chicago School of Law (J.D.) Georgetown University (B.A.)

Lisa Madigan (born July 30, 1966) has been the 41st Attorney General of the US state of Illinois since 2003, when she became the first female attorney general for Illinois. She is a Democrat and the adopted daughter of Michael Madigan, who has been Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives for most of the last quarter century.

On December 12, 2008, she attracted national attention after filing a motion with the Supreme Court of Illinois to temporarily remove Governor Rod Blagojevich from office. The motion was subsequently denied by the court without a hearing.

Biography

Education

Madigan attended The Latin School of Chicago for her secondary education, and received her bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in 1988. She received her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Early career

Prior to becoming an attorney, she was a teacher and community organizer, developing after-school programs to help keep kids involved in education and away from drugs and gangs. Madigan also volunteered as a high school teacher in South Africa during apartheid. Madigan later worked as a litigator for the Chicago law firm of Sachnoff & Weaver.

Political career

Madigan speaks on the first day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Madigan was an Illinois Senator from 1998 through 2002, during which time she worked down the hall from Barack Obama. In 2002 she ran for Attorney General of Illinois and narrowly defeated Joe Birkett with 50.4% of the vote. In 2006 she was re-elected with 72.4% of the vote against Tazewell County State's Attorney Stewart "Stu" Umholtz.

Notably, Madigan became the first Illinois Attorney General in over 25 years to personally argue a case before the United States Supreme Court. In 2004, she successfully argued Illinois v. Caballes, where the court reaffirmed the ability of police officers to use specially trained dogs without a search warrant or probable cause to detect the presence of illegal drugs during traffic stops.

In 2002, Madigan received a $25,000 donation from a black metal musician Andrew Harris. When Harris's relation to the black metal band Judas Iscariot came to light, Madigan agreed to donate the money to anti-hate groups, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Madigan has also had a strained relationship with former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, due at least in part to her father Michael Madigan's ongoing feud with Blagojevich.

She was considered a potential candidate for Governor of Illinois or the United States Senate in the near future; however, on July 8, 2009, she announced she was running for reelection as Illinois Attorney General instead of seeking higher office in 2010. She was considered a possible replacement for Barack Obama's Senate seat following his victory in the 2008 presidential election, although Madigan herself described her chances of being appointed as "less than zero." Roland Burris was appointed to the U.S. Senate instead. During the Blagojevich Senate appointment scandal, Madigan was speculated to be "Senate Candidate #2" in the complaint against Blagojevich although no wrongdoing on her part was implied. Notably, on December 12, 2008, Madigan attracted national attention after filing a motion with the Supreme Court of Illinois to temporarily remove Blagojevich from office and install Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn as governor. Though the motion was denied by the court without a hearing, Blagojevich was later impeached and convicted and Quinn was sworn in as governor.

See also: Rod Blagojevich corruption charges

She is widely speculated to harbor intents to pursue a higher political office, and has been cited by The New York Times to be among the seventeen most likely women to become the first female President of the United States.

Awards and honors

Madigan received the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award in 2005, an award presented annually to "exceptional young Americans under the age of 40 whose contributions in elective office, community service or advocacy demonstrate the impact and value of public service in the spirit of John F. Kennedy."

Personal life

Madigan is married to cartoonist Pat Byrnes, and they have two daughters.

Electoral history

• 2010 election for Attorney General

Main article: Illinois state elections, 2010

• • Lisa Madigan (D) (inc.), 65%
  • Stephen H. Kim (R), 32%
• 2006 election for Attorney General

Main article: Illinois state elections, 2006

• • Lisa Madigan (D) (inc.), 72%
  • Stewart Umholtz (R), 25%
• 2002 election for Attorney General
  • Lisa Madigan (D), 50.4%
  • Joe Birkett (R), 47%

External links

• Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan official government website
  • Biography
• Lisa Madigan for Attorney General official campaign website

• Biography, interest group ratings, public statements, vetoes and campaign finances at Project Vote Smart
• Profile at Ballotpedia
• Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Lisa Madigan in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Dusty Rhodes Rising star: Why Lisa Madigan leads the political pack Illinois Times, February 5, 2009