State Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez was unanimously elected to lead the state Democratic Party on Saturday, a day after U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly dropped her bid for a full four-year term.
The vote by the Illinois Democratic State Central Committee at a plumbers union hall in Springfield took place quickly, but followed weeks of intense lobbying of the 34-member panel by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who backed Hernandez, and by allies of Kelly.With Hernandez’s election as the party’s first Latina chair, the first-term governor gained control of the state party apparatus after being rebuffed a year earlier when Kelly was elected over his preferred candidate.
Democrats control all statewide offices and the state Supreme Court, hold supermajorities in the state House and Senate, and have a majority of the state’s U.S. House seats and both of its U.S. Senate seats. Kelly, a five-term congresswoman from Matteson, was prohibited from raising money for state candidates — the bulk of the party’s activity — because as a member of Congress she is subject to federal campaign finance laws that are more restrictive than state law on how much money can be contributed and what entities are allowed to donate.
Pritzker’s decision to back Hernandez revealed some animosity toward the reelection seeking governor from Black Democratic lawmakers. Retired state Rep. Al Riley of Olympia Fields, who supported Kelly a year ago but was not on the committee this year, issued a Tweet referencing Kelly’s work to diversify party leadership after decades of Madigan’s one-man rule.“The more some people claim to want change, the more they really want things to stay the same. Nonetheless, character still matters.
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