Corruption in Springfield did not just begin in December. It’s a statewide trend almost 40 years in the making.

In 1970, former Illinois Secretary of State Paul Powell passed away. As a governmental official, his salary never reached six figures, but upon his death, investigators found his shoeboxes stuffed to the brim with over $800,000. Thirty-nine years later, traces of corruption still run deep in Illinois government.

Although the Illinois Senate’s decision Thursday to remove Blagojevich from office does not send him to jail, his eviction from the state Capitol is all too familiar in Springfield.

Counting back eight governors, Blagojevich will be the fourth Illinois governor to go to jail if he is indicted and found guilty.

Institute of Government and Public Affairs expert Kent Redfield cited “weak ethics” and weak “financing laws” as the source of repetitive corruption in Illinois.

“There’s a long tradition of corruption in Chicago before Richard J. Daley,” Redfield said. “We really haven’t had any social movements that have tried to facilitate to clean this up. It’s the worst in Illinois and has gone on for a long period of time.”

IGPA expert Christopher Mooney added that Illinois’ history of corruption stems from the “frontier mentality and the political machines around the 20th century when parties were social welfare institutions.”

As the governor is the acting chief executive of the state, his decisions and actions are constantly examined.

Following former Gov. George Ryan’s indictment, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said “people need to understand we won’t be afraid to take strong circumstantial cases into court,” confirming Blagojevich’s negligence to authority.

Naomi Jakobsson, D-103, is confident that her colleagues do not copy the same behaviors that got Blagojevich impeached.

“Many of my colleagues don’t participate in corruption,” Jakobsson said. “I think it might make some people think twice before taking any kinds of corrupt action. My friends and immediate colleagues would never participate in corruption in any way.”

While Jakobsson says her colleagues are free from political fraud, Redfield knows her optimism is too good to be true.

“If we don’t change things around, it’s inevitable we’ll end up with another situation like this down the road,” Redfield said.

“Maybe not the next governor, but our odds are pretty good given our track record with the last eight governors.”