How Rep. Robin Kelly won the Democratic Party of Illinois chair

With a high-stakes head fake, Rep. Robin Kelly won the 10-day campaign to replace scandalized Mike Madigan as chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois, the first new leader in 23 years.

Kelly beat Ald. Michelle Harris (8th) 51.7% to 48.3% in the Wednesday night balloting among the 36 members of the party's state central committee. This first in generations power change in the party turned into a proxy battle between Sen. Dick Durbin, with Kelly, and Sen Tammy Duckworth and Gov. J.B. Pritzker, up for reelection in 2022, supporting Harris.

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Kelly also told me that for the first time in decades, Illinois Democrats with participate fully in Democratic National Committee activities.

Madigan famously wanted nothing to do with the DNC - to the point of not attending the 2018 national DNC meeting in Chicago.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/3/4/22314537/how-rep-robin-kelly-won-the-democratic-party-of-illinois-chair-pritzker-durbin-duckworth