One of the biggest unsung winners in the fight for control of the Democratic Party of Illinois is House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch.
The new state party chair is Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez, a member of Welch’s leadership team. Hernandez handled the delicate task of overseeing the redistricting effort in her chamber last year.
She is quite popular in her caucus, including among Latino progressives, who note Hernandez has been with them on very important votes despite her background as a “regular” Cicero Democrat.
That voting record helped seal the deal when progressive U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia decided to flip from supporting U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly for party chair last year to backing Hernandez this time around, taking the other Latino state central committee members with him in the process.
It’s no big secret that Welch has worked hard to develop close ties to Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Welch has eschewed the sort of political games Senate President Don Harmon has occasionally played with the governor.
As a result, the governor could be confident Welch wouldn’t try to pull Hernandez’s strings. And Welch helped bring votes to Hernandez’s bid, which put her over the top. Pritzker couldn’t have done this without Welch.
Kelly regularly boasted of the party’s hefty $2 million bank account, but she never mentioned the $2 million had been moved by former House Speaker Michael Madigan to the state party from the now-defunct House Democratic Majority committee shortly after he resigned as House speaker. Welch has been trying to get that $2 million released by the party ever since, to no avail.
Welch was also reportedly frustrated with the state party’s demands over the party’s postage discount rate, which could be worth as much as $3 million to the House Democrats in the upcoming fall campaign.
It also probably didn’t help matters much that the state party’s general counsel, Michael Dorf, performed some campaign legal work for Abdelnasser Rashid during his successful primary bid against sitting state Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside.
Because of Kelly’s very real federal legal limitations on her state campaign-related activities, Dorf had been listed as the state party’s chair in its official filings with the Illinois State Board of Elections. Needless to say, it wasn’t a good look for him to be doing legal work against a Democratic incumbent.
So, there was almost no downside for Welch to throw in with Pritzker in the battle over who would lead the state party.
The Hernandez win is widely seen as a big victory for Pritzker. But it’ll also hopefully help normalize the party down the road. Governors tend to control their respective state parties, for good or ill. Illinois Democrats have for years been a notable exception to that rule. Republican governors here have always run their state party organizations, but not the Dems.
Part of the reason for that is because the Republicans controlled the governor’s office for 26 straight years, which created an enormous Democratic Party power vacuum that was filled by whomever could muster the votes.
When Madigan figured out the state party could save him tons of money on campaign postage, he put his own person in and then finally replaced that person with himself. The party apparatus eventually became little more than a vehicle for sending reduced-cost House campaign mailers and a power center for a politician who regularly defied governors of his own party.
Kelly promised to change all that, but in doing so she neglected to consider the impact on the legislative caucuses.
Kelly was backed from the start by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who set up a successful shadow party operation years ago as a counterbalance to Madigan. Durbin has done quite a lot to build his party over the years, including recruiting numerous congressional candidates and an early insistence on turning the formerly solidly Republican Will County into a Democratic powerhouse.
But Durbin overreached by grabbing at the state party mantle, alienating the governor and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, both of whom are on the ballot this year. Kelly’s decision to run a scorched-earth campaign late in the game, by claiming through surrogates that the governor and his allies were somehow racists, injected even more hostility into the relationship between Pritzker and Durbin that has never been anything close to good.
Point being, once Pritzker leaves office (whenever that is), the next Democratic governor will likely benefit from the precedent set by this intra-party battle.
- Bob Meter - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 9:13 am:
I sure hope if Biden doesn’t run for reelection Pritzker runs. The country needs his type of leadership.
- DissapointedVoter - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 9:16 am:
Welch and Chuy *. Despite all the dirty tactics that claimed that the gov was trying to incite a race war, or clash between the caucuses - there’s a strong Black and Brown coalition behind the gov.
Big win with big expectations, but JB has shown he delivers and then some. I’m excited for the future of the state and party.
- Norseman - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 9:18 am:
Good article.
- vern - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 9:20 am:
===Welch has been trying to get that $2 million released by the party ever since, to no avail.===
A whole lot of sturm und drang could have been avoided if someone had said this publicly during the SCC races. This is a one sentence case for removing Kelly as chair and nobody made it. Pritzker may have been able to save a couple hundred thousand and some hurt feelings by being honest on this one. He let a lot of people think this was about raw power when it wasn’t, which is annoying and a little troubling.
But in the end, now we know that Kelly did this to herself. That 2mil was House caucus money and she wouldn’t give it back. Instead she used it as a talking point about her fundraising. That’s not the behavior of a leader. Hopefully Pritzker, Welch and Hernandez can mend the necessary fences.
- Amalia - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 9:33 am:
great inside baseball…but important….insight.
- Arsenal - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 9:35 am:
==A whole lot of sturm und drang could have been avoided if someone had said this publicly during the SCC races.==
I guess, but this was an Insider’s Battle, and all the Insiders knew it.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 9:37 am:
===A whole lot of sturm und drang could have been avoided if someone had said this publicly===
I think they tried to get reporters to cover it, but to no avail.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 9:39 am:
Good stuff by Rich, it’s important to dissect how things go down, especially if one has this “need” to make things racial, when in reality, Danny Davis or Jan Schakowsky would’ve faced the very SAME challenges that Kelly couldn’t meet.
- vern - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 9:50 am:
===I think they tried to get reporters to cover it, but to no avail.===
I believe it, but reporters also did ask Pritzker to his face why he was doing this. He’s not exactly lacking for camera time, microphones, or a twitter account. I have to assume that they didn’t try that hard.
- vern - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 9:52 am:
===I guess, but this was an Insider’s Battle, and all the Insiders knew it.===
I know we’re all anonymous commenters so you’ll have to take my word for it, but this is not correct.
- Lincoln Lad - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 9:53 am:
Excellent article… helps us “outsiders” understand what’s going on behind the curtain. Thanks Rich.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:03 am:
=== I have to assume===
And…
===you’ll have to take my word for it===
Hmm.
The reality is this was Durbin v Pritzker in the end.
This whole idea that Pritzker wanted to remove the firsts in what Kelly was is a phony argument, as Kelly was everything bad in what Kelly *cough* Durbin’s Crew *cough* tried to deny but the had to accept.
The voters prevailed in the end, as did Pritzker, and Welch was instrumental, as was Chuy.
Here’s the “real reality”… if one is an insider and had ZERO clue what the score was with Pritzker v Durbin, they ain’t no insider, and if folks who lost are “confused” why it was important Pritzker took out folks to win, maybe, again, they ain’t no insider or lack a grasping that governors controlling state parties is a “thing”
- vern - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:11 am:
===lack a grasping that governors controlling state parties is a “thing”===
But now we know that that wasn’t the actual fight here. That’s what we all filled in the blanks with since Pritzker wouldn’t talk about it. 2 million dollars is a lot more concrete and defensible than “is the governor the big boy in charge or not.”
The first race was Pritzker vs Durbin, sure, but the second was much more Welch vs Kelly. As for the SCC elections, don’t you think voters would’ve benefited from knowing the grounds for this conflict?
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:17 am:
=== The first race was Pritzker vs Durbin, sure, but the second was much more Welch vs Kelly. As for the SCC elections, don’t you think voters would’ve benefited from knowing the grounds for this conflict?===
lol, let’s start here….
No one is stopping anyone from running races to educate voters.
Kelly was admittedly incapable of doing the job.
Incapable. Fact.
Any phony to Kelly being able is a pathetic shielding to being honest about… Durbin… and why Kelly was a proxy
===But now we know that that wasn’t the actual fight here.===
That’s sadly not true, as Pritzker backing one to win says otherwise.
How Pritzker rallied support to an end result is insiders being insiders. Those not grasping any of the “math” here, it’s either purposeful lacking or lacking credible party knowledge
- vern - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:27 am:
===Kelly was admittedly incapable of doing the job.===
Lol I’m trying to agree with this here, not sure it’s coming through. All I’m saying is that “Kelly is misusing $2mil that belongs to the House Dems” would be a more effective message to both voters and insiders than “the party is united.”
To be perfectly clear, I’m now saying I was wrong to oppose Pritzker’s play here. He was right that Kelly needed to go. I just also think he could have accomplished that more cheaply and effectively by saying why.
- Arsenal - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:28 am:
==I know we’re all anonymous commenters so you’ll have to take my word for it, but this is not correct. ==
I mean, first of all, right back atcha?
But second, I’ll cheerfully amend my statement to note that, sure, maybe there was some SCC member who was in the dark about this stuff- but that says more about them than anything else. House Dems weren’t exactly shy about wanting that money, Pritzker was shopping the story around…the info was out there.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:29 am:
=== I’m trying to agree with this here===
If Kelly was capable, no changes were needed to be made.
I know, “trust you”, but either keep up or be honest to facts
=== and effectively===
He won. That’s actually being effective.
- Arsenal - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:31 am:
==As for the SCC elections, don’t you think voters would’ve benefited from knowing the grounds for this conflict? ==
Maybe, although what’s interesting to me about the DPI chair “race” was that it didn’t turn on the new members joining the committee, but rather a key bloc of incumbent members flipping from Kelly to Hernandez. That bloc, we will recall, was also heavily behind Castro at first last year.
- Arsenal - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:34 am:
==I just also think he could have accomplished that more cheaply and effectively by saying why. ==
I think a lot of the issue is that Prtizker wanted to (And wants to!) do a few things at once, and there’s different levels of priority. Pritzker wanted to take over DPI…but he also wants to win re-election, and I’m guessing the second matters more than the first. And making too big a deal out of the first offered no upside for the second, so…don’t make too big a deal out of it.
- Back to the Future - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 10:40 am:
Good Sunday morning read.
Some good news from the last primary was the victory of Abdelnasser Rashid that was referred to in this article. That was an exciting race to watch and should be a reminder to all of us that hard work and a good candidate can still win In Illinois.
- vern - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 11:38 am:
===a key bloc of incumbent members flipping from Kelly to Hernandez.===
That’s true, and I think goes to my point that the “pritzker smash” plan was worse than the “talk to the SCC to figure out how to win.” I’m very confident there were first-race Kelly voters who were flippable with a phone call, even outside the Castro bloc.
(also congrats for getting an exclamation point through, you’ve been blessed by the filter gods)
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 11:42 am:
=== I think goes to my point that the “pritzker smash” plan was worse than the “talk to the SCC to figure out how to win.===
When did Speaker Welch become a member of SCC?
Had Pritzker not defeated the members he did, no leverage would have existed.
- Arsenal - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 11:50 am:
==That’s true, and I think goes to my point that the “pritzker smash” plan was worse than the “talk to the SCC to figure out how to win.”==
I guess I’d argue that this *was* the “Talk and figure out how to win” option, or that at least the two options had a lot of overlap. Gotta remember, most voters had no idea (And continue to have no idea) that there was even a contest for the DPI chair. And sure, there were a lot of challengers in SCC races, but it’s the first election after the remap and, frankly, there was a lot of dead weight on that committee. It was going to happen regardless, and all told, this whole thing ended up going down very quietly.
==I’m very confident there were first-race Kelly voters who were flippable with a phone call, even outside the Castro bloc.==
I think that’s probably correct, too, and that had it actually gone to a vote a lot more would’ve flipped.
==(also congrats for getting an exclamation point through, you’ve been blessed by the filter gods) ==
I guess it’s like being rescued by Spider-Man in an episode of Family Guy, “Everybody gets one.”
- Lulu in Lake - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 11:55 am:
=== claiming through surrogates that the governor and his allies were somehow racists, ===
Hmmm, I wonder if calling the governor a homophobe for endorsing his opponent during Pride month was Sam Yingling’s ham-handed way of contributing to this nonsense.
- vern - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 11:56 am:
===When did Speaker Welch become a member of SCC?===
I don’t really understand the point you’re making. Pritzker tried to defeat the Kelly voters and mostly failed. Then he built a coalition of SCC members (including some of those Kelly voters) via Welch and Chuy, which succeeded. The votes he needed were available as soon as Kelly blockaded the House money, no leverage needed. Pritzker just never bothered to find them until his worse plan failed.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 12:00 pm:
=== And sure, there were a lot of challengers in SCC races, but it’s the first election after the remap and, frankly, there was a lot of dead weight on that committee.===
Good stuff right there.
It was a purge of folks who can’t win a race for a spot few people know “who does what” with the entitled with maybe elitist thinking that they shouldn’t have to face the voters.
If Kelly thought she had the votes… Kelly said she lacked the support.
Leverage, Welch, Chuy… and winning elections.
- Arsenal - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 12:09 pm:
==It was a purge of folks who can’t win a race for a spot few people know “who does what” with the entitled with maybe elitist thinking that they shouldn’t have to face the voters.==
And some of it wasn’t even a “purge”, just natural attrition and challenges, especially when everyone has a new district to run in.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 12:31 pm:
===and mostly failed===
LOL, Pritzker only needed to win enough of the weighted vote to leverage.
Your rewriting of all this going down, Welch was instrumental after enough of the weighed vote faced defeat via election.
Kelly was actually fighting right up to that presser with the DNC and the convention.
===Then===
So if Pritzker lost all the elections he’d be able to “then”
C’mon, who are you trying to fool here?
===as soon as===
… Pritzker showed he was close enough where Welch getting involved…
Kelly had no chance. You make it seem like Kelly gave up on her own, not facing inevitable defeat.
- Arsenal - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 3:04 pm:
==Pritzker just never bothered to find them until his worse plan failed. ==
Well, first of all, how do we know that Pritzker wasn’t making any of those kinds of phone calls before the primary?
But second of all, the primary was happening one way or the other, so he probably couldn’t have finalized the winning coalition until he knew those results.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 3:09 pm:
=== ==Pritzker just never bothered to find them until his worse plan failed. ==
…
But second of all, the primary was happening one way or the other, so he probably couldn’t have finalized the winning coalition until he knew those results.===
Center cut filet, whew.
Prolly why understanding where the losses were and the new weighted vote mattered, “*Enter Welch*”, and the revisionist history falls apart
- This is not my issue but - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 3:15 pm:
Kelly claiming Madigan’s $2 million was brought in by her is ridiculous. But watch for Hernandez to soon tout raising more than $2 million, even if it’s just $2,000,001. How? Because JB will write a check. So let’s not pretend that Hernandez will be this immediate master fundraiser. The difference will be that the funds will likely get dished out to candidates running this fall, versus sitting in the bank.
- Both sides are wrong - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 3:51 pm:
This story is driving me nuts. Like or hate the Madigan controlled DPI, the story that money was only spent on house races is not backed up by any of the financial reports. There was clearly money spent on coordinated activity, congressional races and Senate races. More importantly the idea that Pritzker can single handily fund the party ignores the rules state parties have. They need federally permissible funds to pay staff, to do GOTV, etc. They will need to get to work raising money that can’t be transferred in from Pritzker’s account if they want to do half of what they say.
- Vato - Monday, Aug 8, 22 @ 5:13 pm:
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Welch’s biggest victories came with the support of Chuy, and his bigger losses came when he was on the other side of Chuy. Chris has a lot of growth to do