By Bill Cameron, WLS-AM News

(CHICAGO)  Governor Bruce Rauner and his Republican primary challenger State Representative Jeanne Ives of Wheaton today faced off for the Tribune Editorial Board.

Ives interrupted Rauner so often the grinning governor said at one point, “that was quite a filibustering screed.”

One of the central topics was the dominance of Speaker Mike Madigan in Springfield.

Challenger Ives oddly defended Madigan from Rauner’s many attacks on the speaker, “Now I’ll be honest with you. Mike Madigan is an obstacle, there’s no doubt. But, when you pick a personal feud with the man and you keep calling him a crook, how do you think he’s going to react?”

Rauner was making no apology for his three years of attacks on Madigan, noting “I know Speaker Madigan extremely well, extremely well. We’ve had many meals together, we’ve talked for hours together, we’ve played golf together. I know him very well. He doesn’t care about policy. For him, it’s all about power and money.”

Rauner made the improbable claim that he can get Madigan out of the speaker’s chair by getting some of his Democrats to sign a pledge to vote for anyone else for speaker a year from now.

@ 2018 WLS-AM News