By Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – A former girlfriend of state Rep. Bob Rita says her late father asked House Speaker Michael Madigan to intervene in a domestic case she brought against Rita more than 15 years ago. She said it was met with deaf ears, a claim Madigan’s spokesman disputes.
Rita, D-Blue Island, was acquitted in April 2003 of domestic violence charges stemming from an altercation with then-girlfriend Liz Hogan. She claimed he threw her to the ground and threatened to rape her.
Hogan, now a married preschool teacher, said Thursday that her father, former state Rep. Andy McGann Sr., went to Madigan, D-Chicago, two weeks after the incident, before the case went to trial, begging Madigan to protect Hogan.
“Mike Madigan said that he couldn’t do anything about it,” Hogan said Thursday at a news conference. “It was nothing and all my dad could say was, ‘I’m so sorry about all of that.’ ”
Rita was acquitted of the charges in April, three months after he took office. He’s been elected every two years since then, mostly in uncontested races.
Hogan’s father died in 2008. McGann and the speaker were friends, Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said. Madigan sponsored a death resolution in McGann’s honor.
“I remember him sitting there in the church, crying, in one of the pews,” Hogan said of the speaker at McGann’s funeral. She says she didn’t recall speaking to Madigan then.
Madigan has no recollection of any conversation with McGann regarding the lawmaker’s daughter and Rita during that time, Brown said.
“Madigan should have acknowledged the problem, addressed it,” Hogan said. “Someone should have talked to Bob Rita about it.”
Hogan’s announcement came at a news conference in Chicago where she was joined by teacher Mary Carvlin, who’s challenging Rita in the March 20 primary election.
Rita comes from a politically connected family. His father, John Rita Sr., was Blue Island’s mayor. His mother was an alderman and Calumet Township official, a position in which he succeeds her. His sister, Nancy, is currently an alderwoman in Blue Island’s third ward. His brother, John, was the city’s public safety director.
