THE ILLINOIZE (New Speaker Special Edition): Welch promises "this is a new day"...Durkin isn't sold...Some great photos from Lame Duck session

January 14, 2021

Good morning.

SPEAKER WELCH

“I didn’t come down here thinking I’d be leaving town as the Speaker of the House.”

Well, Chris Welch is now Speaker of the House.

(By the way, he’s often listed as Emanuel “Chris” Welch, but says he goes by “Chris,” so that’s what we’re going to call him here, for future reference.)

The State Representative from Hillside in western Cook County became the consensus candidate for House Democrats following now-former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s shocking announcement Monday morning he was suspending his campaign. Three female candidates were unable to muster more than 20 votes and all fell by the wayside. Even Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Swansea), who peeled off a member of the House Black Caucus from Welch as well as some downstate votes, never put together a coalition that could get to 60 votes.

Late Wednesday morning, literally minutes before the 102nd General Assembly was set to gavel in, Welch received enough votes from the Democratic caucus to ascend to the Speaker’s office. Madigan has held the office 36 of the last 38 years and the past 24 uninterrupted. Until Wednesday.

“That’s an awesome responsibility. I’m so honored,” he said. “My commitment is to do it to the best of my ability. Honestly and with integrity.”

More importantly, though, Welch took a far less partisan tone than Madigan often struck. He talked about unity and inclusion. When asked how long he thought a Speaker should serve he responded 10 years. Instead of pledging to do it himself, he said he’d pass a bill to mandate it.

He says he supports fair maps and that Republicans would be “part of the process.”

Welch even drew cheers from Republican members when he pledged “to make some difficult decisions to control spending while we protect our most vulnerable residents.”

Dare I say, did Welch make a few skeptics optimistic about the new possibilities?

I’m a former Senate GOP staffer, and while then-Senate President John Cullerton often talked about bipartisanship on Inauguration Day, even voting for GOP Leader Christine Radogno for Senate President a few times, very few of us ever felt like it was much more than lip service.

I remember working on a bill with then-Sen. Sam McCann in early 2014 to address the propane supply and price crisis in the state. We had to practically knock down doors in Senate offices to get a Democrat to co-sponsor the bill. Finally, then-Sen. Bill Haine agreed to, but wouldn’t say anything publicly to help the bill. I don’t think he could be seen as working with Republicans, especially a potentially vulnerable Republican, on a piece of legislation. Obviously, the bill never got a hearing.

But Welch has the opportunity to make the skeptics believers.

Here’s our story on Welch’s comments to media yesterday.

(Oh, and click an ad while you’re there. It’s one of our few revenue sources while we’re getting off the ground.)

Also, we know Speaker Welch reads this newsletter, so we offer him our congratulations and look forward to working with him!

DURKIN ISN’T SOLD YET

Since becoming House Republican Leader in 2013, Jim Durkin has seemingly been punched in the face everyday by former House Speaker Michael Madigan over House rules, fundraising numbers, elections, ethics, or legislation.

So, give him a break if he’s a little skeptical after new Speaker Chris Welch pledges a new day of bipartisanship sunshine and rainbows.

Durkin and Welch battled this fall as Welch led and promptly shut down the Special Investigative Committee formed to look into Madigan’s role in the ComEd bribery scandal.

“I was very disappointed with the way that committee was handled,” Durkin said in a news conference Wednesday. “It was an embarrassment to the process, it was an embarrassment to their own rules. At the time, Chairman Welch did a disservice to this body. I hope that won’t be an indication of how this legislative body is going to operate.”

Welch, for his part, said he understands Durkin’s skepticism.

“He’s so conditioned right now to just fight and punch and do things like that. When I first moved to my community where I live now, my state representative was a guy named Jim Durkin. We worked together. We have a history and I hope he will see by my actions that this is a new day, a new opportunity to develop a new relationship in this space, and we go from there,” Welch said. “It’s hard to just flip the switch when you’ve just been doing something for so long. I look forward to civility returning to our politics.”

Read about what Durkin had to say here.

SOME INCREDIBLE PHOTOS FROM LAME DUCK SESSION

One of the state’s best news photographers, Justin Fowler of the State Journal-Register, handled pool photo duties during the lame duck session and he brought back some incredible, even historic images. Give him a follow on Twitter or Instagram.

ONE LAST THING

We’ll be back tomorrow with your regularly scheduled newsletter. I know that’s five days of e-mails this week. If it’s too much, please let me know. I’m looking for honest feedback. You can reach me anytime at patrick@theillinoize.com.

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Thanks so much for all of your support.