On March 17, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly, a Clinton appointee, refused to dismiss the lawsuit Gonzales v Madigan, n.d., 16C-7915. The plaintiff, Jason Gonzales, had run in the 2016 Democratic primary against incumbent Democratic speaker Michael J. Madigan. Madigan’s district has become a majority Hispanic district over the years. According to the Complaint, which was filed in 2016, Madigan feared being defeated by Gonzales in the primary, so Madigan recruited two more Democratic candidates with Hispanic surnames, allegedly to divide the vote of voters who wished to vote for someone with a Hispanic surname.
One might think there is no basis for a lawsuit, and that whether Madigan’s action was unethical or not, it wasn’t illegal. However, there is a 1974 precedent from the Seventh Circuit that says it is illegal when there is a conspiracy. That decision was Smith v Cherry, 489 F.2d 1098. Illinois is in the Seventh Circuit, so it is binding on Illinois.
Therefore, the case will now have a trial to determine if Madigan did conspire to recruit two candidates into his 2016 primary. Here is the short decision in Gonzales v Madigan, saying the case is not being dismissed. That part of the decision is toward the end. The first half deals with whether Gonzales can sue Madigan for defamation (Gonzales lost on that issue).