Local government should be controlled by local citizens, not bought and sold by Springfield politicians. But on Friday, August 19, 2016, Illinois Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan, hosted a $1,000 per plate fundraiser for Aurora Mayoral Candidate, Linda Chapa LaVia - a long-time Madigan supporter. As Illinois is drowning in debt and state spending is out of control, Madigan is now looking to control cities across Illinois that have been critical of his tax and spend policies. By tapping Linda Chapa LaVia to be the next Mayor of Aurora, it is clear that he is attempting to pave the way to control the second largest city in Illinois!

We believe that Springfield politics has no business in Aurora.  We believe that local government should be locally controlled and candidates should not be bought and sold by Springfield politicians.  We call for Speaker Madigan to stop trying to influence our cities by pouring money into our local elections like he is doing with the Aurora Mayoral race.  Furthermore, we call on Linda Chapa LaVia to prove her independence from political influencers by pledging to stop raising money from Springfield special interests and to give back every dollar raised through the Mike Madigan Machine. Given the debt and dysfunction at the state level, we cannot afford to give Springfield the keys to run and ruin the city of Aurora.