In this week’s edition of Spotlight Politics:

New efforts from Michael Madigan’s attorneys to suppress key evidence in his upcoming bribery trial — a move federal prosecutors say is a “flimsy effort to create an air of impropriety where none exists.”

The appointment of a Chicago Public Schools teacher to represent much of the city’s Northwest Side in the state Senate sets up a fierce battle next spring as the progressive political organizations and labor unions that helped elect Mayor Brandon Johnson push to consolidate their electoral political power.

And fallout from allegations of hazing and racism in Northwestern University’s football team. Head football coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired as new details continue to emerge. Six professors are urging the school to hit pause on an $800 million upgrade.

The WTTW News Spotlight Politics team takes on those stories and more.