Quincy In his hometown, Michael McClain is not referred to as Michael.
He’s Mike.
McClain was more than just a political powerbroker in Quincy, if he was in Springfield and Chicago.
Yes, he and three other people were found guilty in 2023 of plotting to influence former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, his best friend from the past. Additionally, McClain was sentenced to two years in jail yesterday, six years after the FBI raided his Quincy home. He is expected to report on October 30.
McClain endured two different trials. Madigan was convicted in the first one, but not in the second one earlier this year, when he was sentenced to seven years in jail after being found guilty on ten counts of conspiracy, bribery, and wire fraud.
To his friends and neighbors, McClain was a man who collected money for charities he supported and served on boards. In addition, he played a key role in securing more than $200 million to rehabilitate the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy and in keeping it open following the Legionaries epidemic in 2015.
He completed the tasks.
For anyone in Quincy who needed or desired something from Springfield, McClain served as a liaison with the state government. McClain helped forward Tom Oakley’s transportation agenda and any other priorities he had. Oakley was the former head of Quincy Newspapers Inc., which owned WGEM-TV, The Quincy Herald-Whig, and other media businesses. At Oakley’s funeral in 2022, McClain gave a speech.
However, the hours of transcripts and tapes in the cases undoubtedly provide a glimpse of the inner workings of Illinois’ elite. Furthermore, the photo wasn’t the most flattering.
Now, with the terrible conclusion of the McClain tragedy, Michele McCormack, Executive Editor of Muddy River News, reached out to a number of local veteran political observers to hear their opinions.
Jeff Mays
In November 1982, McClain was ousted from the Illinois House of Representatives by Mays, a Republican. At that point, Madigan assisted McClain in becoming an insider and amassed one of Illinois’ biggest lobbying portfolios.
In 1990, Mays resigned from the Illinois House to lead the Illinois Business Roundtable, a group that represents Illinois CEOs in lobbying. After serving under former Governor Bruce Rauner, Mays was appointed head of the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Most recently, he served under former Mayor Mike Troup as the director of administrative services for the City of Quincy.
When it came to Quincy, after the years of our hostile era, he was always there for me if I picked up the phone, and that’s what counts, Mays recalled. “Yeah, we started out as adversaries and there was always that kind of tension.” I valued that aspect of our friendship, and I believe it helped us accomplish some fantastic things for Quincy.
Given what McClain’s ComEd co-conspirators had already been given, Mays wasn’t shocked by the punishment and sympathizes with what is about to occur.
Regarding the punishment, Mays stated that it was very much in accordance with the criteria the judge had established for the other two. That will provide its own difficulties for him at this point in his life, in my opinion. With potential health problems, a two-year sentence might become a life sentence. I hope not.
His attorney fees over the past six years have likely taken a large portion of his earnings while he was in that position.
Mays expressed uncertainty about the Madigan-McClain saga’s ultimate political implications.
“I was in the fray, and the way people look at politics now is so different,” he remarked. I’m not sure if it will make a difference. People in similar situations have obviously been killed for similar reasons. The 1970s concrete controversy There have been plenty of people who have attempted to cut corners and go too far in horse racing scandals in the 1980s.
These are undoubtedly the most well-known examples in Illinois during the past ten years, but if you go back further, you’ll see that former governors Blagojevich and Ryan were sent to prison, and that judges, state representatives, and senators had previously been sent away for other reasons. When they have unbridled authority, that is what occurs. They believed they were impervious to criticism.
This makes it very evident that they weren’t.
Chuck Scholz
From 1993 to 2005, Scholz, a Democrat, was the mayor of Quincy.
“I have a friend named Mike McClain, and he’s a good man,” Scholz remarked. I hope his appeals are successful. Politics is being criminalized by prosecutors, who are going too far. I hope this is controlled by the Illinois Supreme Court.
It’s rather thin soup in this scenario. Mike was a byproduct. It’s a tragedy.
According to Scholz, McClain was only engaging in political activity.
“This was the legislative process, so it’s not criminal,” he said. There were both sides. Mike stood between them and Madigan. He has accomplished a great deal for the people of Western Illinois.
According to Scholz, the outcome is detrimental to the political system.
He claimed that it affects voter turnout and makes it difficult to elect decent individuals to office.
Jon McCoy
McCoy is the chairman of the Adams County Republican Central Committee and a member of the Adams County Board.
McCoy admitted, “I was a little surprised to be quite honest with you.” I didn’t anticipate going to jail. I believe that many people believe that those in positions of authority do not pay for their transgressions and that they are not imprisoned.
Whether Madigan or anyone else acts at all is still up in the air. There will undoubtedly be an appeal.
McCoy disagreed with Scholz over the case’s political implications. He referred to it as the beginning of restoring public confidence.
Kyle Moore
Moore, a Republican, served as Quincy Mayor from 2013-2021. He is the president of the Great River Economic Development Foundation and represents the 99th District in the Illinois House, representing Quincy in the seat once held by McClain.
It s unfortunate for our state that the latest news is once again centered around a retired elected official being sentenced to prison, Moore said. Our ethics laws must be strengthened, and I am hopeful that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will not hesitate to act.
