Prairie State Wire

Much maligned state Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), an ally of Illinois's powerful state House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), resigned from the General Assembly earlier today after 30 years, only six months after stepping down from a leadership position over a sexual harassment scandal.

Lang is resigning as a politician in Springfield to join a lobbying firm, Advantage Government Strategies, headed by former Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka's chief of staff, Nancy Kimme.

Kimme is known by many to be the state’s “go-to lobbyist.” It was reported by Prairie State Wire that Kimme had secured more than $16 billion in state contracts for 74 clients.

“It is the right time for me to work on policy issues that I care about from a different perspective,” Lang said in a letter to his colleagues. “I have a responsibility to take a broader, long-term look at my professional career. I’m looking forward to my next act."

By joining Kimme, Lang will be lobbying to the very legislators he formerly led. As he leaves the House floor, Lang will have the ethically questionable ability to pick his replacement for the House. 

Lang entered the Illinois House in 1988 but lost his post as deputy majority leader last spring over allegations of sexual harassment, leveled against him by activist Maryann Loncar.

Loncar accused Lang of engaging in years of harassment.

“I was harassed, intimated, humiliated and blackballed through all of this process to do greater service for the people that still have to live here,” she said in a press conference. 

Loncar also alleged that Lang threatened her husband and said he would “bury her.”

Ironically, the day before he was forced out of that leadership position, Lang's support had been pivotal in making Illinois the 37th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

During his tenure as state representative, Lang courted other controversies, as well, such as his close working relationship with lawyer Mike Del Galdo, who has ties to Madigan. Del Galdo, alongside Madigan, has faced various accusations of ethic violations with regard to currying favors and abuse of power.

Lang was unopposed for his re-election bid in November's midterm election.