Top Illinois Democrats and the son of a former military veteran who died of Legionnaires’ disease at a state-run veterans home in downstate Quincy bashed Nirav Shah, the state’s former public health chief, on Friday after he launched his U.S. Senate candidacy in Maine.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, and state Sen. Cristina Castro, D-Elgin, trashed fellow Democrat Shah’s bid to replace Graham Platner as the party’s nominee to take on Maine’s Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in a pivotal race that could determine control of Congress’ upper chamber.
Before moving to Maine, Shah presided over a series of fatal Legionnaires disease outbreaks at the state of Illinois’ veterans’ home in Quincy that were linked to 14 resident deaths and the sickening of dozens of other staff and residents at the former facility.
His oversight under Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration was condemned at the time for worsening the horrific and preventable public health crisis and causing a greater loss of life.
The debacle, which was laid bare in a series of investigative reports by WBEZ, helped Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker wrest the Executive Mansion from Rauner in 2018, led to new state laws and a new veterans home in Quincy, and it prompted more than $6 million in wrongful-death payouts by the state to victims’ families.
Tim Miller, the son of Eugene Miller, an Army veteran who died from Legionnaires’ disease at the Quincy home, said in an interview Friday that Shah’s run is bringing back “a lot of painful memories.”
“One of the memories, and I’ll just kind of put it this way, was the nickname that I gave him and Erica [Jeffries]” — former head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs — “which was Rauner’s death squad,” Miller said. “The way that he handled the Legionnaires’ outbreak in 2015 was unacceptable. I can’t believe that people in his positions are part of these things, and then they just continue on the political trail like nothing ever happened.
Miller said that, when he thinks of Shah, his mind flashes on his father’s flag-draped coffin.
“I hope nobody forgets what happened in Quincy, Illinois,” he said. “We lost heroes who served their country, who were promised to be cared for, and, under Nirav Shah, they were not cared for. We were not given the proper information we needed to make healthcare choices. And, under Nirav Shah’s guidance, we did not have that information, and my father died a horrible death.”
Castro was among lawmakers who grilled Shah about the Quincy deaths during joint House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearings in 2018. Castro had spoken out earlier this year about Shah as he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic primary for Maine governor, saying, “Maine voters deserve to know” about Shah’s leadership in 2015.
On Friday, Castro said her reaction to his Senate announcement was “disgust.”
“I just don’t understand how a gentleman who was so egregious, incompetent when it came to the lives of the 14 veterans who died under his watch and Gov. Bruce Rauner’s watch at Quincy could even be considered for either” the governor’s office or the Senate, Castro said. “I still can’t understand why he’s even being considered now.”
Duckworth, who was vocal in asking for Shah’s resignation in 2018, responded to his announcement by posting on social media: “Maine deserves better than someone who put his public image before the safety of our veterans.
“I called for his resignation then, and I strongly oppose his run for Senate now,” Duckworth wrote.
In a statement late Friday, Shah voiced his “deep respect” for Duckworth but dismissed criticism over his handling of the Legionnaires’ outbreaks at Quincy.
“These are the same recycled attacks that outside groups poured into Maine during the closing weeks of the governor’s race,” Shah said. “I stood in town halls across this state and took every question, including questions about this tragic Legionnaires’ disease outbreak, face to face, because that’s what people running for office owe voters.”
During a May 5 Maine gubernatorial primary debate, Shah addressed the Legionnaires’ outbreak.
“I could have done better, and that is, as you noted, I could have done a better job communicating, and I learned that lesson,” Shah said.
Shah led the Illinois Department of Public Health under Rauner from 2015 to 2019. Shah later led Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, then was the principal deputy director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In this year’s Democratic primary for governor in Maine, he lost to former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree.
Illinois public health officials, including Shah, delayed informing the public for nearly a week about the deadly 2015 Legionnaires’ disease outbreak despite knowing the facility was facing “the beginning of an epidemic,” according to internal emails WBEZ fought to get from Rauner’s office.
It was a misstep a public health expert called “mind-boggling.”
In March 2019, Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino criticized Rauner’s administration for mishandling the response to the outbreak, saying top state officials didn’t initially comprehend the severity of the crisis. The stinging audit found that two state agencies — the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Public Health — didn’t adequately notify residents, their families, staff members or the public about the epidemic in its earliest stages.
Shah announced his candidacy on Thursday in Freeport, Maine, less than 24 hours after Platner dropped out of the state’s U.S. Senate race amid sexual assault allegations. Platner said his decision was not an admission of guilt.
Democrats in Maine must pick a candidate by July 27 to take on Collins, the Republican incumbent, in a must-win race for Democrats. Several Democrats are vying for the bid, including Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, Jordan Wood, a former Capitol Hill staffer, and Maine Senate President Troy Jackson.
“This race is a referendum on Sen. Collins and her enabling of Donald Trump’s worst instincts and most harmful policies,” Shah told supporters.
At the news conference Thursday announcing his candidacy, the former public health director referred to his time in Illinois once, saying it gave him the experience needed to work with a legislature.