Madigan faces ouster as speaker as Illinois House convenes to pick leader
by
Greg Bishop, The Center Square
| January 13, 2021 10:00 AM
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The new term of the Illinois Legislature begins Wednesday afternoon and all eyes are on who will be the next speaker of the House.
Longtime Illinois politics observer and University of Illinois Springfield professor Kent Redfield said whoever becomes speaker, they have to pledge to be independent of Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, who’s held the seat for all but two years since 1983.
“Whether [Madigan] finishes out his term or not, I don’t expect him to be the controller behind the curtain, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Redfield said.