A major shake-up is coming to the Northwest Side’s political representation in Springfield.
Four days after the Illinois Supreme Court announced the appointment of Democratic state Sen. John Mulroe of Chicago to a vacant Cook County judgeship, Republican state Rep. Michael McAuliffe, who represents the western half of Mulroe’s district, announced Monday that he’s retiring, effective immediately.
Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Robert Martwick, who represents the other half of Mulroe’s district, is among those vying for the soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat.
McAuliffe, the city’s lone GOP state lawmaker, has served 23 years in the House after being appointed to the seat held for 23 years by his father, Roger McAuliffe. Michael McAuliffe took the seat following his father’s death in 1996.
“While I never set out to spend 13 terms in Springfield, I felt a higher calling for public service and responsibility to my community,” McAuliffe said in a statement Monday. “I’ve worked extremely hard to represent my constituents and bring their minds and hearts with me on every 200-mile drive to Springfield, but I’ve decided it’s time to yield to an even higher calling, my family.”
House GOP leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs praised McAuliffe for fighting “resiliently for the priorities of the families” in his district.
“Mike has seen Illinois in its best and worst of times — and he has been a part of making this state, and his district, a better place for Illinois residents,” Durkin said in a statement.
Local Republican leaders will meet soon to choose McAuliffe’s successor. McAuliffe, who serves as the Republican committeeman for the 41st Ward, will have a major say in the selection, controlling nearly half the weighted vote based on the number of ballots cast in the ward during his unopposed reelection in November. He declined to comment through his district office.
Mulroe will officially resign from the Senate before being sworn in as a judge Friday. At that point, local Democratic leaders will name his successor. If they choose Martwick to fill the Senate seat, they will then need to choose a replacement for the vacant House seat.
Mulroe’s 10th Senate District stretches from the Northwest Side to near northwest suburbs including Rosemont, Des Plaines and Niles.
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
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June 17, 2019 at 04:00PM
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