South Central Reporter

Rep. Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) no longer holds the speaker title, but a GOP activist believes the damages he’s left in his path will be “everlasting.”

“Once Madigan is out of the way, the Illinois Democrat Party will become the Party of Pritzker,” Christopher Hicks told South Central Reporter.

Earlier this month, Madigan suspended his bid for the top position in the Illinois House of Representatives but didn’t withdraw altogether from seeking the speaker post.

Hicks called it a “strategically placed political move.”

The Chicago Tribune reported Madigan made the decision public in a statement after a “closed-door vote” yielded only 51 votes for the longtime speaker.

Hicks said he’d like to see Illinois lawmakers put the state over party politics but believes the next speaker would keep pushing the “radical leftist Democrat agenda.”

Madigan had been losing support after being implicated in an ongoing federal investigation about alleged brides that also involved ComEd. The state’s largest utility company was fined $200 million for its role, though it did not admit to any wrongdoing. Madigan has not been charged with a crime and denied any wrongdoing. The U.S. Justice Department is leading the investigation. 

House lawmakers ultimately elected Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D-Hillside) to lead the chamber as the speaker.

“Welch has long been working his way into position to force Madigan out,” Hicks said.

Hicks said he found those actions disheartening, but allegations on how he’s treated women are “even more troubling.”

“Welch is alleged to have physically assaulted an ex-girlfriend in addition to facing a 2010 federal lawsuit for sexual harassment and retaliation in which a different woman alleged she lost her job at Proviso Township High School District because she broke up with him while he was president of the school board,” he said.

Authorities have said that no charges were filed in the case involving the ex-girlfriend, and the lawsuit was dismissed.

In a statement soon after his selection, Welch questioned why resolved matters were coming up now, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“At no other occasion have these events been brought up, and I firmly believe my Republican colleagues are threatened by the potential growth of my profile,” Welch said in a statement, the Tribune reported.