In 1982, political activist Pat Quinn managed to gather enough signatures to put his “Cut Back” Constitutional Amendment on the ballot.
Under the back drop of the Illinois legislature’s having raised base salaries from $20,000- to $28,000, the amendment passed.
Membership in the Illinois House was cut from 177 to 118.
Three member districts were abolished.
Going to single-member districts meant cumulative voting was abolished.
Under cumulative voting, the Establishment in each House district won one seat, a more independent candidate from the majority party won the second seat, while the minority party generally got the third seat.
Independents like Lewis Caldwell, a Chicago Democrat, and Susan Catania, a Chicago Republican, couldno longer win election.
And, as the Chicago Sun-Times noted Thursday,
“Madigan profited when the state’s ended cumulative voting, which concentrated more power in the hands of the top two Democratic and top two Republican leaders.”
So, thanks to “reformer” Pat Quinn, who once worked at Coil Craft in Cary (and got fired for being on the phone too much), Mike Madigan got more powerful.
