Lawmakers representing northern Illinois react to Madigan’s speaker campaign suspension

State Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, said Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan “has always been an expert at the words he chooses.”

Keicher was referencing Madigan’s announcement Monday that he was “suspending” his campaign for a 19th term in the leadership post.

“I think right now with this tumultuous time the Democratic Caucus is having in the House, any clear vision of what will happen is a guess at best,” Keicher said, who spoke to the Daily Chronicle Monday from Springfield. “I’m here talking to my peers on that side of the aisle and nobody really truly knows how this will turn out, and we won’t know for sure until the earliest Wednesday at noon.”

Madigan, the longest-serving leader of a legislative body in U.S. history, issued a statement that began, “This is not a withdrawal.” But it urged House Democrats to “work to find someone, other than me, to get 60 votes for speaker.”

State Rep. Tom Weber, R-Lake Villa, also questioned what the statement really meant and said Madigan should remove himself completely from the running.

“Although I welcome the news that Madigan has suspended his campaign for House Speaker, it is telling that he has specifically stated he is not withdrawing,” Weber said. “This very well may be a misdirection tactic. For the sake of the legislature, he must clearly state his withdrawal rom the race for House Speaker and remove any uncertainty.”

On the other side of the aisle, state Rep. Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa, said around 1:15 p.m. he “just found out about it a half hour ago.”

“We haven’t had a caucus to discuss it yet so I really can’t comment on it,” Yednock said.

State Rep. Suzanne Ness, D-Crystal Lake, whose successful November election bid against former state Rep. Allen Skillicorn received a huge boost in funding from Democratic Party entities under Madigan’s control, also declined to comment on the longtime House leader’s campaign pause.

Former state Rep. Jack Franks, most recently McHenry County Board chairman, said Monday that he was also glad to hear the news and hopes it will pave the way for new leadership.

Franks, D-Marengo, said he thinks Madigan suspended his bid rather than withdrawing it because Madigan knows that garnering 51 of the 60 necessary votes in a caucus vote Sunday was his “high water mark” but is holding on to the hope of continuing his campaign if an opportunity to secure more votes arises.

“I think that’s also why he wanted to have a voice vote and not a secret vote,” Franks said. “If it would have been a secret vote, he wouldn’t have gotten to 50. It would have been much less.”

“I see no path for him to get to 60 votes,” he said. “I believe we will have a new Speaker.”

Keicher said it’s too soon to tell yet who will be inaugurated Wednesday in the post, and he didn’t have a specific person in mind.

“My preference would be towards someone who is open to allowing the rules of the House to be more fair and judicious in allowing more of the representatives to have access to the bills being heard either during committee or on the floor,” Keicher said. “My preference would be for a speaker who would put rules in place that allowed for more transparency and dialogue on the important issues that are going on in Illinois right now.”

State Rep. Marty McLaughlin, a Republican whose District 52 seat represents parts of McHenry, Kane, Lake and Cook counties, said he wants to see term limits for House leadership roles.

“We have a unique opportunity in the 102nd General Assembly to change course for Illinois,” McLaughlin said, referring to the General Assembly class set to be sworn in Wednesday.

Madigan has led the House almost continuously since 1983. He has been dogged recently by a Justice Department investigation into a bribery scheme involving utility ComEd.

The 78-year-old Chicago Democrat has not been charged with a crime and has denied wrongdoing. But in a caucus vote Sunday, his support fell short of the 60 votes needed for his retention. Ness was among those who did not vote for Madigan over the weekend.

“This is not a withdrawal. I have suspended my campaign for speaker,” Madigan said in a statement released by his office Monday morning. “As I have said many times in the past, I have always put the best interest of the House Democratic Caucus and our members first. The House Democratic Caucus can work to find someone, other than me, to get 60 votes for Speaker.”

The last sentence of the brief statement is indicative of the uphill battle Madigan’s challengers will have to climb – they will need 60 votes, or 42 more than any challenger appeared to have Sunday night.

The House speaker is chosen by House members, and can receive both Republican and Democratic votes. There are 73 Democrats and 45 Republicans who will be seated in the 102nd General Assembly.

Traditionally, however, a majority party speaker receives votes from members of their own party.

In the first closed-door unofficial ballot conducted between Democrats in a private room at the Bank of Springfield Center on Sunday night, Madigan received 51 votes, according to several reports confirmed by Capitol News Illinois.

The speaker also has the endorsement of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus and Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus – two key voting blocs that make up the majority of his support, although some individual members of those caucuses have said they would not vote for Madigan.

The second leading vote-getter in the closed-door meeting was Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, who had just 18 votes. Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, had three votes. Rep. Kathleen Willis, D-Addison, dropped out of the race before the vote, giving her support to Williams.

The official vote does not happen until Wednesday, when the 102nd General Assembly is scheduled to convene, seating new and reelected members.

Until then, lawmakers are set to consider a flurry of transformative legislation backed by the Black Caucus during the final two days of the 101st General Assembly – measures that have also received Madigan’s blessing.

Over the first three days of session, the discussions of who will be the next speaker have punctuated long days of policy-oriented discussion.

Capitol News Illinois was awaiting callbacks from several lawmakers Monday afternoon to discuss the impact of Madigan’s announcement, but committee hearings were ongoing at the Bank of Springfield Center which is hosting the House session amid the pandemic.

“With 36 hours left before the swearing-in of a new General Assembly, Michael Madigan continues to create uncertainty and misdirection,” House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, said. “His latest statement about suspending his bid for Speaker, but not withdrawing, is typical of his style and appears to be another ploy or a head fake. For the sake of the institution, his caucus must demand that he be direct and honest about his intentions – in or out.”

A House source said there would likely be another vote for speaker Monday evening.

The Associated Press and Capitol News contributed to this report. This story will be updated.