MAYOR’s COMMS SHUFFLE NOW URLACHER SEEKS RE-ELECTION TEACHER TALKS STALL, KIDS STILL HOME
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Lori Lightfoot’s communications office for nearly 18 months, is leaving, and
Kate LeFurgy, deputy director of the office, is stepping up.
“Kate has played a critical part in navigating our city through the enormous challenges of the last year,” Lightfoot said in a statement. “She is fiercely committed to our mission of building a transparent, responsive city government that reflects the experience and needs of our residents, and I’m thrilled to have her stepping into this leadership role.”
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Jan 14, 2021 09:37 PM EST
Illinois Democrats of the House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to anoint state Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch (D) as their next leader. This formally concludes decades of dominion by House Speaker Mike Madigan (D), who was sitting longer in his position more than any other state Speaker in the history of the United States.
Welch Elected as New Illinois House Speaker
Welch, who represents a suburban district east of Chicago, garnered the votes required to become Speaker after negotiating with state Rep. Jay Hoffman (D), who will hold a leadership post the following year.
The Illinois House elected its first Black Speaker to oust the longest-seated legislative leader in modern US history, picking Welch for the position and ousting Madigan following his implication in an ongoing bribery investigation.
Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, takes the Oath of Office to become the House speaker for the 102nd General Assembly for the Illinois House of Representatives on Wednesday at the Bank of Springfield Center. (Credit: Justin L. Fowler of The State Journal-Register)
Historic victory ushers in new era of Black political power after fall of Michael Madigan
Crusader Staff Report
In a historic victory, State Representative Emanuel “Chris” Welch, a Democrat from Hillside, was elected Illinois’ first-ever Black House Speaker, ending the long era for veteran State Representative Michael Madigan, while ushering in a new chapter of Black political power in Springfield.
Illinois House Democrats on Wednesday chose Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch to lead the chamber as Michael Madigan stepped aside from a job he d held for nearly 40 years.