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ILLINOIS NEWS NETWORK

A Democrat running for Illinois governor is distancing himself from his own partys leader.

State Rep. Scott Drury, D-Highwood, blames House Speaker Michael Madigan for creating the environment that allowed Gov. Bruce Rauner to win in 2014.

"When we had control, we allowed our pensions to spiral out of control, we didn't do things that our base wanted us to do, Drury said. Rauner became the candidate of 'anything but Democrats'. In that way, Speaker Madigan was the Dr. Frankenstein who created the monster he could no longer control."

Madigan has served as Illinois House Speaker for 32 of the past 34 years. He recently became the longest-serving House speaker in U.S. history.

Drury was the sole Democrat in Springfield who did not vote for Madigan to retain the title of Speaker earlier this year. He argues hes the only one in the race with a track record of standing up to the Chicago Democrat.

"I believe that Speaker Madigan has hedged his bets with various candidates in this race, Drury said. Certainly the one who's resonating the most right now is J.B. Pritzker. But when you look at the facts and other candidates, certainly Madigan has his claws into [Chris] Kennedy and Daniel Biss as well."

Drury has unveiled a reform proposal that in part takes aim at what he calls the Madigan Problem.

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"First of all, we need to have term limits on legislative leaders, Drury said. We absolutely need an influx of fresh ideas and I think term limits on legislative leaders would get us there."

The proposal also offers Drurys solution to the states pension problem and would prohibit legislative leaders from holding outside employment. Drury says his plan does not rely on any further increase in income taxes.

"By looking toward generating savings, rather than finding new sources of revenue or tapping into revenue, we can immediately invest that money into bipartisan issues that people want, such as public education or health care," Drury said.

Drury says he doesn't believe Gov. Rauner is doing a very good job and actually has made the state worse during his tenure. Hes interested in attracting support from across the political spectrum, including among dissatisfied Republicans.

"I'm looking for anyone who is sick and tired of Illinois, Drury said. Illinois is a bipartisan mess and the only way we're going to fix that is by looking for candidates who have solutions to the problems and go past the partisan bickering and want to make honest changes. Not just changes that are politically beneficial.

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Madigan to blame for Rauner's election win, Democrat governor candidate says - Illinois News Network