Peter Fitzgerald (politician) - Political Maverick

Political Maverick

Throughout his tenure in the Senate, Fitzgerald battled with the state Republican Party leadership. He insisted on the appointment of an out-of-state US attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald (who is unrelated), to investigate corruption in the Illinois state government. Illinois later had several indictments, including that of former Republican Governor George Ryan, who has since been convicted of several criminal abuses of authority, and Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted of attempting to sell the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.

Fitzgerald declined to run for reelection largely because many Republican insiders who had failed to support him in his first run in 1998 had made it clear he would not have their support again, in what he knew would be a much tougher race. In 2009, conservative journalist John Fund wrote that, "Sen. Fitzgerald also labeled an Illinois congressional delegation 'wish list' of $600 million in projects being submitted to President Bush as a 'mega-hog letter.' 'The mere fact that a project is located somewhere within the state of Illinois does not mean that it is inherently meritorious,' he wrote speaker Hastert. In turn, Hastert called such criticism 'grandstanding.' ... The senator accused GOP governor George Ryan, now serving a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence on a corruption conviction, of opposing competitive bidding rules so he could dole money to political allies. 'I want Illinois to get a $150 million (Abraham Lincoln) library, not a $50 million library that just happens to cost $150 million,' he told fellow senators."