The Democratic primary was between Madigan, Gonzales and those two candidates with ties to Madigan: Joe Barboza and Grasiela Rodriguez. To believe Barboza and Rodriguez were not planted by Madigan’s operatives — to believe they were sincere, outsider candidates hoping to topple the speaker — you also would have to believe in unicorns and mermaids. The depositions reveal both candidates had ties to Madigan. One of Madigan’s top political operatives even drove their stacks of petitions to get on the ballot to Springfield to beat the filing deadline.