Willis Becomes First in Madigan's Leadership to Defect
Rep. Kathleen Willis (D-Addison) Tuesday became the 19th Democrat, and first in Speaker Michael Madigan’s leadership team to announce she would not vote for Madigan for another term as Speaker.
Rep. Kathleen Willis (D-Addison) became the first member of House Speaker Michael Madigan’s leadership team to defect from the Speaker Tuesday when she announced she would not support Madigan for another term leading the chamber.
In a letter first posted to Capitol Fax, that Willis confirmed to The Illinoize, she told her Democratic colleagues there was too much work to accomplish to be distracted by Madigan’s ethical concerns.
“I feel strongly that our caucus has a lot of hard work to accomplish in the upcoming legislative session and we need to put the distraction that has been created by Representative Madigan behind us and move forward in mending the State of Illinois,” she wrote.
Willis was elected to the House in 2012 and currently serves as Majority Conference Chairperson on House leadership. She wrote in her letter she hoped to work with transition to a new Speaker, but did not indicate if she was interested in the position herself.
So far, the only announced Democrat for Speaker against Madigan is Rep. Stephanie Kifowit (D-Oswego).
We asked Willis if she spoke to Madigan before releasing her letter, but she did not respond to our question.