SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The 100th Illinois General Assembly is being seated and one question is whether Chicago Democrat Michael Madigan will have any bumps on his way to election to a 17th term as House speaker.
Members of the House and Senate will elect their leaders Wednesday before they buckle down to construct an annual budget plan. That's something their predecessors couldn't do in two years.
Republicans funded by Gov. Bruce Rauner have waged a campaign in recent weeks to urge House Democrats to reject Madigan. Madigan has been a state representative since 1971. After election as speaker in 1983, he has held the gavel for all but two years since.
In the Senate, another Chicago Democrat, John Cullerton, is poised to take the helm for his fifth term.