Former Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle quit her job with Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner on Friday, leaving her $198,000-a-year post as chief operating officer.
When he announced her hiring in January 2015, the newly elected Republican governor had called Lingle “a superstar,” the highest-profile member of his “Turnaround Team,” a trio of outsiders with budgeting and management experience expected to help the political novice improve the state’s economic outlook.
But on Thursday Rauner — locked in a stalemate with a Democratic-majority Legislature — signed a six-month stopgap state budget that included none of his “Turnaround Agenda” reforms.
On Friday Rauner said Lingle would not be replaced. Instead, her duties would be taken over by the only remaining member of the Turnaround Team, Deputy Gov. Trey Childress, a former high-ranking government official from Georgia.
“I thank Linda Lingle for her service to the people of Illinois,” Rauner said in a statement. “Linda made a commitment to help us with our transformation efforts, and she has done a great job of helping to move our state in a new, positive direction.”
Lingle could not be reached for comment, but she was quoted in the governor’s news release:
“I want to thank Gov. Rauner for the opportunity to serve the people of Illinois. I believe in the work Gov. Rauner is doing to turn around the state of Illinois and am honored to have served in his administration working toward transforming government operations.”
During an interview with the Honolulu-Star Advertiser in January 2015, Lingle said her plan was to work for Rauner during his first four-year term and then return to Hawaii.
Over the past year, Rauner has taken some flak for paying his lieutenants sizable sums. He has responded by saying he is willing to pay large salaries to experts who will help fix the state.
Lingle told the Star-Advertiser last year that she would be managing the day-to-day affairs of the Illinois state government with an emphasis on the departments and the governor’s Cabinet.
“I will be in on every call, and I’ll have input on everything,” she said.
Lingle, the first female governor of Hawaii, served two terms here from 2002 to 2010. In her last year she was paid $117,306.
She also served two terms as mayor of Maui County in the 1990s before becoming Hawaii GOP chairwoman. She lost a race for U.S. Senate in Hawaii in 2012.
Lingle, a Hawaii Kai resident, was teaching a semester-long political science seminar at California State University, Northridge, in early 2015 when a friend sent her a text asking whether she might consider an opportunity in Rauner’s administration.
Lingle, who said she was not looking for a job, ended up flying to Illinois a week later and came away impressed by the former private equity fund manager worth billions.
In an Illinois state blog post in March, Lingle said, “People ask me all the time why I was willing to leave Hawaii to come to Illinois to be part of the Rauner administration. Leaving weather aside, the answer is a simple one — Gov. Bruce Rauner has a clear vision of how to achieve a more compassionate and competitive Illinois, and I wanted to be a part of that effort.“
She concluded the blog with a postscript: “I didn’t think this winter was so bad.”