Attorney William J. Quinlan, who has worked behind the scenes with some of the state’s highest profile politicians, is entering the crowded Chicago mayoral election fray.
With his Tuesday campaign launch, Quinlan argued he holds a unique understanding of government’s inner workings, but hasn’t been sullied by a career filled with electoral ladder climbing like many political insiders.
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“Somebody needs to not just be worried about coming up with a two-year fix so that they can get themselves re-elected,” said Quinlan, a Democrat. “I understand how government works, but I’m not part of the system and I don’t owe anyone (anything).”
“As you look across the field — and we evaluated before we decided to get in — you can see nothing but people that either owe people, are part of the system, and are looking to basically have a title,” he continued. “That’s why you see people running for multiple offices.”
Quinlan currently runs a private eponymous law firm, but held various roles for some of Illinois’ best-known politicians over the decades. He was the state’s general counsel under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich from 2005 until resigning in 2008, shortly after the governor’s arrest on federal corruption charges. Back then, Quinlan said the experience killed his “desire to work in public service.”
Now, “the only job I want is this,” Quinlan said of the fifth floor. A native of Sauganash on Chicago’s Far Northwest Side, he said, “I’ve lived here my whole life. I’ve built a business here. I’ve raised my children here. I want to do what I could do to get it back on track.”
Still, he acknowledged it will be difficult to stand out in the jampacked mayoral field.
Several other non-politicians are also running as outsiders in a more moderate lane than Mayor Brandon Johnson, while elected officials like Congressman Mike Quigley, state Comptroller Susana Mendoza and Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias are in the race, as well.
Chicago’s ailing finances are among Quinlan’s top concerns. He argued budget issues have piled up over the last 40 years thanks to short-term thinking by politicians eager to get through the next election. The city needs to return to pre-pandemic spending levels, consolidate functions with other units of local governments and focus on creative, long-term revenue solutions, he told the Tribune. “I’m for the millionaire’s tax, but we’ve tried it and it hasn’t passed,” he said.
Quinlan comes from a family long tied in with local government. His late father, William R. Quinlan, was the corporation counsel for mayors Richard J. Daley through Jane Byrne, a Cook County circuit and state appellate judge and parliamentarian for the Cook County Board. His uncle is Richard Phelan, former Cook County Board president.
He worked for former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan during his undergrad at the University of Illinois, and during law school at Georgetown, Quinlan worked for three years for U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski of Chicago, who then chaired the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
Quinlan’s most recent high-profile role was representing former Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez in his battle against Johnson
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to keep his job. Other Chicagoans might remember his defense of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett in the civil suit concerning the amount of police overtime logged investigating what his sentencing judge described as a hoax hate crime.He’s gathered a campaign team that includes David Eichenbaum, a Bill Clinton 1996 campaign alum who advised Kentucky’s Andy Beshear on his gubernatorial run. Quinlan’s kitchen cabinet features veteran strategist Bill Knapp, who worked the presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama as well as Mike Bloomberg’s three New York City mayoral races.
Fellow Bloomberg alum Bradley Tusk — who was deputy governor under Blagojevich — and Sheila Nix, former first lady Jill Biden’s chief of staff who went on to work as a senior advisor and campaign chief of staff to Vice President Kamala Harris, are helping. Christian Wallace Shriver, a former creative producer for YouTube star Mr. Beast, is also assisting.
Quinlan has been quietly building toward a mayoral run since last fall, hosting events with his 501(c)(4) nonprofit civic organization, Leading a Better Chicago.
As a lawyer, he has represented Cook County in ongoing litigation and compliance with the Shakman Decree, which was put in place following a lawsuit brought to eliminate political considerations from government hiring.
According to a resume provided by the campaign, he was involved with cases that challenged “the constitutionality of various state statutes under the Illinois Constitution, such as statutes related to the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority Act and redistricting of congressional and judicial districts.”
Quinlan serves as board chair for Lawrence Hall, a social services nonprofit for at-risk youth, and was a member of the Cook County Health Foundation board, where he went public with conflict-of-interest concerns involving board leadership. The attorney general opened and closed an investigation there without finding any violations.