East Central Reporter

Illinois state Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) believes the fall of former state Rep. Luis Arroyo (D-Chicago) is a good example of what happens when people run for office for all the wrong reasons.

“A lot of times if you’re motivated by power and money and not principles or the best interest of the people, you can easily get lost,” Miller told the East Central Reporter. “When those factors are at work, you can easily be motivated by the wrong things.”

After 13 years in Springfield, Arroyo was abruptly forced to step down last week after he was nabbed on federal bribery charges when FBI agents captured him on tape trying to broker a deal with an unknown state senator to pay $2,500 a month in exchange for a vote on a gambling bill.  

“His crime was getting caught because this type of thing goes on every day in Springfield,” Miller said. “Until we get rid of these special-interest groups and all the lobbyists, nothing’s going to change.”

Arroyo’s fall from grace comes shortly after federal agents executed a search warrant on the home and office of longtime state Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) in connection with a widening probe in which he is accused of taking kickbacks in his role of Senate Transportation Committee chairman.

“We’re supposed to be public servants, not self-servers dealing in our own interests,” Miller said. “For Springfield to change and get away from all the corruption, we’ve got to stop sending so many Democrats to Springfield. I believe that’s the only way things can really change.”

Arroyo tendered his resignation just before he was scheduled to go before a six-member bipartisan Special Investigating Committee looking into his actions and weighing his possible expulsion.