Judge Abner Mikva, former federal judge, congressman, White House Counsel, and one of this state’s most distinguished public servants, endorsed David Hoffman today as the best candidate for the U.S. Senate seat in Illinois, highlighting Hoffman’s work in fighting for reform and clean government.

“As a former federal prosecutor, Chicago Inspector General and member of the Illinois Reform Commission, David Hoffman has a proven record of fighting corruption, “Mikva said. “He is the right person at the right time to help move our state away from the ethical embarrassments of the past, and toward a reform agenda for the future.”

“This is President Obama’s Senate seat and we need the strongest candidate to retain it,” said Mikva. “David Hoffman is that candidate and I strongly endorse him today.”

Hoffman also announced today a transparency initiative that will govern how he carries out his Senate duties. The major components of the transparency proposal will ensure that all of Hoffman’s activities as a U.S. Senator will be open, transparent and available for voters to review. They include:

• Posting all daily Senate schedules online, including identifying every person and group he meets with
• Posting the official Senate office budget online, including salaries of all employees and office expenditures
• Posting all Senate appropriation earmarks online sought by the office, including a full explanation and cost of each project
• Posting all foreign travel online, including the purpose of the trip, meetings that took place and who was in them and the total cost of the travel
• Posting all campaign donors who bundle contributions and the amounts they raised online

“There is a crisis of trust in government today and I believe that we have an obligation to be as open and transparent as possible in order to restore that trust,” said Hoffman. “I believe opening up the inner workings of a Senate office to public scrutiny is the right thing to do and should be the rule, not the exception.”

Judge Mikva holds the distinction of serving at a high level in all three branches of the federal government: as a Democratic member of Congress; as Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; and as White House Counsel to President Clinton. He also served five terms in the Illinois General Assembly and most recently as Chairman of the University of Illinois Admission and Review Commission.

“I am honored to be endorsed by Abner Mikva,” said Hoffman, who announced his Senate candidacy only three weeks ago. “He has shown that government can be a powerful force for good when it is free from corruption and cynicism. His long and distinguished record of public service is a model and inspiration for me.”

PDF of full press release