Springfield, Ill. (AP) — State Sen. Iris Martinez, a state and national Democratic Party leader, on Thursday joined a burgeoning group of Democratic lawmakers _ all women _ calling for Michael Madigan to relinquish his decades-long grip on Illinois politics by resigning as party leader, House speaker, or both, since he was implicated in a federal bribery investigation. Seven Democratic women in the General Assembly now want Madigan to quit after federal prosecutors named him in a criminal investigation in which ComEd acknowledges engaging in bribery in the Capitol. Madigan said he’s done no wrong and does not plan to resign.
