Like many incumbent Democrats throughout the state, Illinois Reps. Fred Crespo and Harry Benton ran unopposed in yesterday’s primary. But here’s where those two suburban lawmakers differ from Illinois’ other Democratic state lawmakers who are preparing for November’s general election.
They’re not permitted to attend caucus meetings with their fellow Democrats.
As a result, Democrats in Crespo’s northwest suburban district and Benton’s southwest suburban district are voting for representatives whose ability to make a difference in the Capitol has been significantly weakened due to internal party politics.
These men have been dispatched to the Democratic doghouse for different reasons by Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, who’s built quite a record of ruling his caucus with an iron fist over the last five years or so.
Without public explanation, Welch stripped Benton of his committee assignments and barred him from caucus meetings late last month, the Tribune reported. Last year, Welch stripped Crespo of a committee chairmanship and kicked him out of the caucus after Crespo publicly proposed a major budget policy to gird against potential Trump administration cuts (quite the sensible idea, we might add) as the caucus internally was trying to forge House Democratic consensus on the budget.
Former speaker, now federal prison inmate, Michael Madigan, was dubbed the velvet hammer for how he spoke softly — and seldom — and yet set firm expectations for his fellow Democrats, which most of them followed. The few who displeased or challenged him usually suffered some form of punishment, as Madigan held firm control over campaign funding on which most members relied for re-election.
But with Madigan, at least, there was the chance of future rehabilitation for those with whom he was unhappy. Perhaps the best example comes from 2011, when Madigan tapped then-Rep. Elaine Nekritz for leadership in the House even after she’d voted against the chamber’s rules package in 2009 — a no-no in Madigan’s book. Madigan came to see Nekritz as a valuable member of his caucus and didn’t allow any lingering personal beef to stand in the way of his judgment about what she had to offer. He said as much at the time.
We’re not recounting this history about Madigan to say we’ve had a change of heart about him. Far from it. But we are recalling the aspect of Madigan’s leadership where he could relegate past slights to history and forge new, productive relationships. That is something Welch should emulate.
Since becoming speaker in 2021, Welch already has booted three Democrats from his party’s House caucus and ousted one of them — long-time Rep. Mary Flowers — from the chamber by recruiting a primary challenger, who defeated her.
In Benton’s case, allegations of sexual harassment may have prompted Welch’s action, the Tribune reported. Our reporter was not able to reach Benton for comment. Welch also declined to comment; separately, he also had for no comment for us. Such silence is unhelpful. We agree with House Republicans who have said that the public deserves to know the substance and nature of any such allegations and how they are being handled by the speaker.
Still, the news about Benton prompted us to reach out to Crespo to get caught up on his situation. Crespo told us that, yes indeed, he’s still frozen out of the caucus. We condemned Welch’s punishment of Crespo shortly after it happened; That he remains on the outs is beyond absurd.
But Crespo added something more disturbing. Last year, after a masked gunman shot the former Minnesota House speaker and her husband to death and tried to assassinate other Democratic state lawmakers, Illinois state police held sessions with anxious Springfield lawmakers to discuss their security. Crespo tells us he wasn’t allowed in those meetings.
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“That to me was going too far,” Crespo said. “What kind of leader would not include all the colleagues for something as serious as public safety?”
What kind indeed?
We also asked Speaker Welch’s office to respond on the Crespo situation, but they declined to comment.
We understand that keeping Democrats in Springfield working productively together is challenging and tricky. But it’s clear to us that Crespo’s treatment is unwarranted.
As it stands, two House Democrats will be on the ballot in November who aren’t allowed to caucus with their fellow Democrats. That reflects poorly on the speaker, who has an informal rule that no major bill will move to the floor unless at least 60 of his chamber’s 78 Democrats support it.
It’s going to get ever more difficult to enforce that dictate — which is unwise anyway and purposefully impedes bipartisan solutions to Illinois’ many problems — if Welch keeps booting more fellow Democrats out of his club.
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