Some House Democratic Women "Frustrated," "Angry" With Welch
House Speaker Chris Welch speaks at the City Club of Chicago earlier this year. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
When then-House Speaker Michael Madigan lost his grip on his caucus amid sexual harassment scandals surrounding his campaign and official staff, it was a revolt led by many House Democratic women.
As the current Speaker, Chris Welch, may soon find himself in similar troubles with women in his caucus as the public learns more about Welch’s decision not to punish or call for the resignation of then-Rep. Harry Benton in 2023 after initial allegations of sexual harassment were made against Benton.
Welch faces a scheduled two hour call with members of the House Democratic Women’s Caucus later this morning, and some female members of the caucus say they’re “frustrated,” “angry,” or “thoroughly pissed off.”
Reporting from the Chicago Tribune last week found Welch and his top staff were made aware of sexual harassment allegations against Benton in early 2023 after a report from a female staffer in Benton’s district office. The woman’s name has not been released publicly and The Illinoize will not reveal her identity. Benton wasn’t interviewed by top staff until months later and, by all indications, was never sanctioned or punished by the allegations.
Another allegation of sexual harassment of a lobbyist in February reportedly led to the opening of the Legislative Inspector General investigation that led to Benton’s removal from the caucus in February and eventual resignation in July.
“It’s pretty clear both the women and the men [in the caucus] want answers,” said one Democratic lawmaker. “I suppose ‘frustrated’ is one word you could use.”
Welch’s office did not respond to a request for comment Monday. In his statement July 1 where he called for Benton’s resignation or expulsion from the House, he said allegations against Benton were taken seriously.
“Allegations of misconduct are taken with the utmost seriousness, and I am grateful to those who came forward and trusted our office to listen, support them, and ensure their concerns were handled appropriately,” the statement said.
But numerous House Democrats we spoke to said they weren’t pleased with Welch’s handling of the allegations in 2023 or 2026.
“We have questions and would like them to be addressed,” said another lawmaker.
Rep. Margaret Croke (D-Chicago) told the Chicago Tribune this weekend
“I’m upset, and I’m disturbed that this is still the behavior that we’re dealing with 10 years now after kind of we had gone through a very similar ‘Me Too’ movement,” she said. “[What] really hit me (was) as someone who kind of grew up in government and grew up in politics, where I was that young female staffer, that if this had happened to me at this level, would I have gone on to other campaigns, to being a state rep, to running for comptroller? Those are all questions that I am kind of grappling with right now.”
Croke is the Democratic nominee for State Comptroller and will leave the General Assembly in January.
Rep. Anne Stava (D-Downers Grove) also told the Tribune this weekend she still supported Welch, but had concerns about her ongoing support.
“I have some thinking to do on what would make me confident to support him going forward,” she said. “I think Speaker Welch has some thinking to do about the way he interacts with younger women. Because I don’t think he should have put himself in the position that he’s in right now.”
The Tribune reported Welch also reacted to some of the employee’s photos on social media with suggestive emojis.
“This is the same kind of stuff that we’re going out of our way to be better than since it happened last time [under Madigan],” one member said. “If these things are true, you’re going to have a lot of pissed off women in the House.”
44 women make up the House Democratic caucus (45 after new Rep. Jessica Dixon Heitman is reflected in the roll today, see below, and 46 if you count Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana), who has been removed from the caucus while facing federal wire fraud charges.) That’s more than a majority of the Democratic caucus, meaning women alone could remove Welch from his post if they banded together.
“The Speaker needs to address this very carefully,” said one Democrat. “He has a large group of angry members over this.”
