By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – The Black Caucus of the Illinois House of Representatives has chosen Rep. Chris Welch (D-Hillside) as its candidate for speaker.
The selection in a closed-door meeting caps a day in which House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) announced he would suspend his campaign and see who could get sixty votes. A straw vote Sunday saw the embattled Madigan as the leading candidate with 51 votes. That would leave him nine votes short of the required sixty to win the election.
The other candidates are Reps. Stephanie Kifowit (D-Oswego) and Ann Williams (D-Chicago). More could decide to make a run for it as well.
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said Monday night Madigan did not plan to support a candidate other than himself.
Illinois has had neither a person of color nor a woman as speaker. Madigan’s support eroded as the #MeToo scandal swept through his operations, and as a federal investigation implicated him in a decade-long bribery scheme involving Commonwealth Edison.
It’s expected House Democrats will vote at least once before Wednesday’s formal vote during the inauguration of the 102nd General Assembly.
Dave Dahl can be reached at news@wjbc.com
