Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch says he won't seek another term

We've got some breaking news on Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch. He will not be seeking another term. We've got political reporter Brandon Pope here in the studio to break it all down. What's going on, Brandon? This is something we've been working on here for a little bit. We just got this statement in from Speaker Welch. He says, I've told the caucus that our time in this space is finite, but we are playing an infinite game. He went on to say that he looks forward to joining the caucus as we usher in our next leader and take our party further into the future. So Emanuel Chris Welch, the first black speaker of the Illinois House. Will no longer be speaker after January. This comes after a letter was sent by 26 of his colleagues, Democratic colleagues, basically telling him they were not going to support him. Their reasons given, the biggest was his handling of the sexual harassment allegations around former Representative Harry Benton. Also lots of discussion around a toxic workplace culture in Welch's own office. But as I'll reiterate, we have reached out to Welch for comment during the The story, this statement has always provided so far. Welch's own dealings with staffers have also been under the microscope, and Representative Kelly Cassidy has called them inappropriate. And the timing here, very interesting. Immediately after an election where he helped expand Democrats' power in Springfield, Welch now poised to give up his grip. On the speaker's gavel, this is a major story here. Kelly Cassidy saying that the efforts by Chris Welch here to create a working group on workplace culture and other remedies he had just were not enough. We are still not a safe workplace for young women in particular. But I see and hear from staff who complain about their treatment from all perspectives, right? I wanna normalize change. I want us to have these debates regularly. I believe that we are a healthier body when we are contemplating change regularly. There are states that have contested leadership elections every cycle. And you know what they do? They legislate, right? We can walk and chew gum. We can spend this period hearing from people about what their ideas are, what their vision is, how they would like to do things differently. And Be able to evaluate and make some choices and see what that leadership team can look like. Now, it's worth mentioning here, Kelly Cassidy has told me she has no interest in the speaker's job. To keep the gavel, Welch would have needed 60 votes in the General Assembly. And with Dems projected to hold at least 83 seats, losing 26 would have meant Republicans would have had to save him. So the numbers and the math were not looking good there. In our exclusive interview with Governor J.B. Pritzker, he was noncommittal on Welch staying on as speaker. Do you support Chris Welch continuing as House Speaker? Well, I haven't seen the letter. I've certainly heard rumors of it. There are lots of rumors running around. Look, in the end, this is a decision that's going to get made by members of the General Assembly. They're the ones who choose their leaders. All I can say is I'm going to work with whoever the Speaker of the House is. I've always said that I would do that, always done that. I think even when we disagree on things, my job is to make sure that we're moving our agenda forward. So that's what I'm focused on. Have any House Dems approached you about Speaker Welch, about replacing Speaker Welch, or have you been involved in any discussions around that? No. Anyone in your staff been involved in discussions around that? No. And this has been brewing for quite a few days now, and especially today as it ramped up with this letter from these 26 members of the General Assembly, fellow Democrats, having a mutiny against Emanuel Chris Welch here. Now he's saying he will not seek another term as Speaker of the Illinois House. There were many Springfield sources saying the Black Caucus was unified in not backing a new Speaker unless it came from their ranks. Thanks, my sources still say it is the case the Black Caucus will be hoping to keep the speakership. In the hands of a black person in their caucus, we'll have to see how that battle goes in January. But it's something to watch for. I'll read a little more of this statement real quick as the information is flying in quick as you would expect, Lauren. In here, he talks about how diversity is our strength, but unity is our power. Talks about passing historic legislation on transit, cannabis energy, securing greater investments in education, defended vulnerable seats, grew the majority. You know, touting all his resume there, definitely giving, in a sense, his goodbye, but once again saying he looks forward to joining the caucus as they usher in a new leader. And take the party further into the future. So with that, the first black Speaker of the House in Illinois history succeeding the powerful Michael Madigan is officially going to be stepping aside and there will be a new person holding the gavel. I know this is something that you've been following here, Brandon, and I'm sure that you'll have a lot more for us at nine. Absolutely. All right. Thank you so much.