Jan. 15--Jason Gonzales is a 41-year-old consultant on a mission to beat House Speaker Michael Madigan, who was elected to the Illinois House before Gonzales was born.
Gonzales filed paperwork to run as a candidate in the March 15 Democratic primary in the 22nd District. Yes, Madigan's district. He's trying to beat Madigan in Madigan's backyard.
Gonzales already is learning that when you challenge Michael Madigan, you're challenging a political machine, one that rarely loses.
Gonzales quietly collected petition signatures to get on the ballot. He waited until 15 minutes before the close of the last day of filing to turn in his signatures at the Springfield office of the Illinois State Board of Elections. But Madigan's top campaign aide, Shaw Decremer, was there. Waiting.
When Decremer saw Gonzales, he promptly pulled two stacks of signed petitions out of a box. Boom. Two more candidates were suddenly filed for the ballot. Their names are Joe Barboza and Grasiela Rodriguez.
Score: Madigan, 1. Gonzales 0.
Madigan has done this before, lining up friendly competition to dilute the votes of people who are tired of Madigan. Cynical, yes. Effective? It can be.
The last real challenge Madigan faced was in 2012, when a young woman named Michele Piszczor ran against him in the Democratic primary. Piszczor said she was followed as she went door to door to campaign. Her car tires were slashed. Her car door was smashed.
Two other candidates put their names on the primary ballot that year but didn't campaign. The anti-Madigan voices were diluted among three candidates. Madigan won easily.
Mr. Gonzales, get ready.
Gonzales owns up to some, ah, political challenges.
He grew up in the suburbs, lived in various places near downtown, and has rented an apartment in the district only since August 2014. He says he has deeper roots on the Southwest Side through family members who have been longtime residents.
He admits he had run-ins with the law in his youth. He was arrested for unlawful use of a credit card in 1991, when he was 17. He spent more than two months in jail. Yet, he says, he overcame that, graduated from an alternative high school and stacked up impressive degrees, including a master's in public administration from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
"From the outside, it looked like my life would be nothing but that of just another Latino statistic. For most people this would be the end, but for me it was just the beginning," he says on his website.
One other potential liability: Could Republicans be behind the challenge? At least four of Gonzales' campaign contributors gave money to Gov. Bruce Rauner's campaign. Gonzales says he will "stand up to Bruce Rauner" if he's elected.
It's possible Gonzales will learn what Michele Piszczor learned four years ago. It's an uphill slog to beat this organization. The score always seems to be: Madigan, 1. Everyone else, 0.
