The DePaulia Nika Schoonover, Politics Editor|January 18, 2021 Illinois State Rep. Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, casts his vote for Illinois State Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, to be Illinois Speaker of the House as lawmakers cast their votes for the 102nd General Assembly for the Illinois House of Representatives at the Bank of Springfield Center, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021, in Springfield, Ill. (Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register via AP) Illinois Democrats ousted former Speaker Michael Madigan after his nearly four decades in office when Emmanuel “Chris” Welch was elected the state’s first Black speaker of the House. Welch is tasked with bringing the House into a “new era” despite questions of his past including several harassment allegations.