Veteran local political observers assess impact of McClain sentencing

QUINCY — Michael McClain isn’t known as Michael in his hometown.

He’s Mike.

If McClain was a political powerbroker in Springfield and Chicago, he was more than that in Quincy.

Yes, in 2023 he was found guilty of conspiring to influence his former best friend, ex-Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, along with three others. And yesterday, six years after the FBI raided McClain’s Quincy home, he was sentenced to two years in prison, where he is scheduled to report on Oct. 30.

McClain went through two separate trials. While he was convicted in the first one, he wasn’t in the second one earlier this year where Madigan was found guilty on 10 counts of conspiracy, bribery and wire fraud and sentenced to seven years in prison.

To McClain’s friends and neighbors, he was a guy who served on boards and raised money for causes he cared about. He also was a prime mover in not only keeping the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy open after the Legionaries outbreak in 2015, but helping secure more than $200 million to renovate the facility.

He got things done.

McClain was the conduit to state government for anyone in Quincy who wanted or needed something from Springfield. Tom Oakley, the former head of Quincy Newspapers Inc., owners of WGEM-TV, The Quincy Herald-Whig and other media properties, relied on McClain to help push his transportation agenda and any other priority he had. Oakley died in 2022 and McClain spoke at his funeral.

But the hours of tapes and transcripts in the cases certainly give a snapshot of how the elite work behind closed doors in Illinois. And it wasn’t the most flattering picture.

Muddy River News Executive Editor Michele McCormack reached out to several local veteran political observers to get their thoughts now that the McClain saga has reached its tragic end.

Jeff Mays

Mays, a Republican, was the man who defeated McClain in November 1982 and knocked him out of Illinois House of Representatives. It was then that Madigan helped turn McClain into the “insider’s insider” and built one of the largest lobbying portfolios in Illinois.

Mays left the Illinois House in 1990 to become the head of the Illinois Business Roundtable, a lobbying association of Illinois CEO’s. Mays then became director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security under former-Gov. Bruce Rauner and, most recently, was the director of administrative services for the City of Quincy under former Mayor Mike Troup.

“Ya know we started out as adversaries and there was always that kind of a tension, but whenever things came to Quincy after the years of our adversarial period, anything Quincy if I picked up the phone he was always there for me and that counts,” Mays said. “I appreciated that part of the relationship with him and I think we were able to do some great things for Quincy as a result.”

Mays wasn’t surprised by the sentence, especially after what McClain’s ComEd co-conspirators had previously received, and has sympathy for what is about to happen.

“That’s very much in line with the standard the judge had set for the other two,” Mays said regarding the sentence. “To me at this stage in his life that will pose its own challenges. A two-year sentence with health issues that might arise could be a life sentence. I hope not.

“He’s spent a lot of money on attorney fees the last six years … probably offset a lot of the money he made when he was in the position he was in.”

Mays said he wasn’t sure what the final politica impact would be for the Madigan-McClain saga.

“The way people look at politics today is so different when I was in the fray,” he said. “I don’t know if it will have an impact. Clearly, we’ve had folks similarly positioned go down for similar things. Concrete scandal in 70s … Horse racing scandals in 80s … we’ve had more than our fair share of folks who tried to cut it quick and stretch the envelope way too far.

“These are certainly the most high profile cases of the last decade for Illinois, but if you go back there was Blagojevich and Ryan (former governors) going away to prison and, before that, judges and state reps and senators going away for other stuff. That’s what happens given them unchecked power. They thought that they were above reproach.

“This clearly shows they weren’t.”

Chuck Scholz

Scholz, a Democrat, served as Quincy Mayor from 1993 to 2005.

“Mike McClain is my friend and he’s a good man,” Scholz said. “I hope he prevails on appeals. Prosecutors are overstepping and criminalizing politics. Hopefully, the Illinois Supreme Court reigns this in.

“This case is pretty thin soup. Mike was collateral damage. It’s tragic.”

Scholz said what McClain did was merely practicing politics.

“It’s not criminal, this was the legislative process,” he said. “Both parties were involved. Mike was in their way to get to Madigan. He’s done a lot of things for the people of Western Illinois.

Scholz sees the end result as something that harms the body politic.

“It makes it hard to get good people in government and impacts voter turnout,” he said.

Jon McCoy

McCoy serves on the Adams County Board and is the chairman for the Adams County Republican Central Committee.

“I was a bit surprised to be quite honest with you,” McCoy said. “I didn’t expect a prison sentence. I think a lot of people think big shots don’t pay for their sins … the upper echelon doesn’t go to jail.

“It remains to be seen if anyone (Madigan included) does any time. I’m sure there will be an appeal.”

McCoy’s opinion on the case’s political impact was the opposite of Scholz’s. He called it “a start to renewing public trust.” 

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.”