ShawnTe Raines-Welch, whose husband is Illinois House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch, says bar associations found her ‘qualified.’ But one prominent group rated her ‘not recommended.’
If this sounds like an echo of former House Speaker Michael Madigan, who used his influence in 2002 to help elect his daughter Lisa Madigan attorney general, that’s because it is.
And ShawnTe Raines-Welch isn’t the only clout candidate running in the suburban judicial district, which also includes relatives of lobbyist Al Ronan and Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough.
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Jim Gleffe, 39, earned his political stripes as a precinct captain in the 13th Ward run by former House Speaker Michael Madigan, who lost his speakership when implicated but not charged in the ComEd bribery case. Madigan remains the ward’s Democratic committeeman, a post he has held for more than half a century.