The turmoil that prompted the resignation of Illinois GOP Chairman Don Tracy all began with a highway tragedy that led to the downfall of George Ryan.
The charred remains of Scott and Janet Willis’ minivan sits on the side of Interstate 94, Nov. 8, 1994, near Milwaukee after a part fell off a truck causing a fire that killed six of their children. The accident led to an investigation that eventually doomed former Illinois Gov. George Ryan’s political career.
Our story about the crash, and the alleged corruption that contributed to it, led a 10 p.m. newscast in early 1998, and we aired multiple follow-ups, but the affable and avuncular Ryan, a popular political veteran who was then running for governor, denied any knowledge of the alleged corruption in his office.
The decimation of the Republican Party’s infrastructure also enabled then-Illinois House Speaker and state Democratic Party Chairman Michael Madigan to engineer the election of Democrats to all but one statewide office, super-majorities in both legislative chambers and control of the Illinois Supreme Court.Corruption eventually brought down Blagojevich and weakened his successor, then-Lt. Gov.
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