Illinois power broker is out
Democrats replace long-serving House speaker with body’s first Black leader.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois House on Wednesday elected its first Black speaker to replace the longest-serving legislative leader in modern U.S. history, picking Democratic Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch for the job and pushing aside Michael Madigan after he was implicated in an ongoing bribery investigation.
Welch, an eight-year House veteran from the Chicago suburb of Hillside, garnered 70 votes from the 118member House days after emerging as the front-runner alternative to Madigan, 78, who was first inaugurated as a House member half a century ago.
Madigan has wielded the gavel for 36 of the last 38 years and had sought another term in his post despite 19 members of his caucus announcing their opposition in the last six months. After coming up short in a Sunday caucus vote, Madigan suspended his campaign, allowing lawmakers to consider others rather than force a floor fight that would paralyze all other business.
“It is time for new leadership in the House,” Madigan said in a statement. “I wish all the best for Speakerelect Welch as he begins a historic speakership. It is my sincere hope today that the caucus I leave to him and to all who will serve alongside him is stronger than when I began.”
Last summer, Madigan was identified in a Justice Department investigation as the beneficiary of a yearslong bribery venture involving utility giant Commonwealth Edison. It has so far yielded a $200-million fine on the utility giant, a ComEd executive’s guilty plea and indictments of four others, including Madigan’s closest confidante. Madigan has not been charged with a crime and has denied wrongdoing.
Considerable challenges await Welch. COVID-19 has claimed more than 17,800 lives in Illinois and forced a House retreat to the Springfield convention center, where lawmakers with face coverings could spread out to avoid transmission. There’s also a $4-billion hole in the current state budget, largely driven by tax revenue lost to the pandemic, on top of billions of dollars of existing indebtedness.
Welch has been part of Madigan’s inner circle, serving as chairman of the powerful Executive Committee. He was chosen last fall to be chairman of an investigative committee demanded by Republicans to review Madigan’s involvement in the ComEd scandal. Welch abruptly brought the probe to a close, claiming that the Republicans had staged a “sham show trial.”
That incensed House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, who had prompted the committee review by filing a charge of conduct unbecoming a legislator. On Tuesday, with Welch’s prospects rising, Durkin derided him as a continuation of “the model of Madigan Inc.”
In his first comments as speaker, Welch tried to bridge the decades-long partisan divide.
“Today will be the last time I talk about us as Democrats or Republicans, because I want to talk about us being united,” he said. “We’re going to work together to move this state forward.”
Madigan’s leadership has been questioned in recent years, even before the ComEd allegations surfaced. The scrutiny included his handling of sexual harassment allegations and a scathing report he commissioned that detailed an environment of bullying and intimidation in the speaker’s office under his chief of staff of 25 years.