A new leader is in place for Illinois Democrats. State Rep. Lisa Hernandez (pictured) (D-Cicero) succeeds U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Matteson), as some in the party – including Gov. JB Pritzker – said Kelly’s fund-raising abilities have been hampered by her status as a federal officeholder.
“This past week has been a challenging one,” Kelly said in a farewell address. “Honestly, this past sixteen months has been challenging in many ways. I know my vision for a new kind of DPI was shared by so many, and, obviously, I am disappointed I was not able to continue building the party we need in this state, especially when I had such little time to do the work.”
Many see the Democratic Party leadership elections of 2021 and Saturday as a proxy fight between Gov. JB Pritzker and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), with Durbin backing Kelly both times and Pritzker supporting Chicago Ald. Michele Harris last year and Hernandez now. The main criticism against Kelly has been her limited fund-raising ability as a federal officer.
After the election, Hernandez praised Kelly and added, “Over the coming weeks, I plan to sit down with every member of the state central committee, our executive branch candidates, Democratic caucus leaders, committees for the two Democratic Supreme Court candidates, members of DPI staff, stakeholders to ensure their vision for our party is incorporated into the apparatus we will build to hold Republicans accountable and win in November.”
Committeemen and -women chose Kelly after former House Speaker Mike Madigan left the panel. Once Hernandez had the necessary votes locked up, Kelly withdrew, and members elected Hernandez by acclamation.
Region: Springfield,News,Region: Central,City: Springfield
via News – WTAX 93.9FM/1240AM https://wtax.com
July 30, 2022 at 04:01PM
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