Richard T. Bradley is an American politician and a former Democratic member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

from 1997 to 2009.

Political career

Bradley was appointed to the Illinois House of Representatives in April 1997 to represent the 20th district after the resignation of Joseph Kotlarz. He was re-elected in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006. In 2008, Deb Mell, daughter of Ald. Richard Mell and sister-in-law of Illinois Governor

Rod Blagojevich Rod R. Blagojevich ( ; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked ...

, announced that she was running for the 40th District seat. Bradley subsequently decided to run for the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

against state Sen.

Iris Martinez Iris Y. Martinez (born February 25, 1956) is a former American politician and administrator. In 2020, she was elected clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. She previously served as a member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 20th dis ...

rather than face Mell. Martinez was re-elected in February 2008, defeating Bradley and another candidate. In August 2008, Blagojevich claimed that House Democrats who held city of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

jobs were fearful of voting in favor of his 2008 capital bill because they thought House Speaker

Michael Madigan Michael Joseph Madigan (born April 19, 1942) is an American politician and convicted felon who is the former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was the longes ...

might be able to get them fired. Blagojevich told reporters: "They fear their leader, Mr. Madigan, and if Mike Madigan tells them to vote a certain way, they will tell you privately, and I've had these discussions with a couple of state reps, one of whom said, 'I'm afraid if I vote for the jobs bill I'll be fired from my job at Streets and Sanitations ic I'm afraid I'll lose my job.'" The one state legislator who worked at the Streets and Sanitation Department in Chicago was Bradley, who told the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' that he hadn't talked to Blagojevich in about two years.

Political positions

Bradley said that he opposed Blagojevich's 2008 capital bill because the House Latino Caucus disagreed with its provisions as written.

References

External links

Project Vote Smart - Representative Richard T. Bradley (IL)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Richard T Bradley
20062004200220001998
campaign contributions

profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Richard T. Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives 1955 births Living people Politicians from Chicago 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly