Madigan Names His Own Successor With 56 Percent Of Weighted Vote

CHICAGO, IL — Michael Madigan, the embattled longtime Illinois Democratic leader who resigned from the 22nd District state House of Representatives seat he held for 50 years less than a week ago, has named his successor.

It's Edward Guerra Kodatt, who since 2017 has worked as an infrastructure manager in Chicago's 13th Ward under Ald. Marty Quinn, a close Madigan ally. Madigan remains chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party.

With 56 percent of the weighted vote in the process to appoint his successor, Madigan nominated, and, in a sense, appointed Kodatt on his own. Nine other people sought the position during a Sunday morning meeting on the city's Southwest Side, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

At age 26, Kodatt, Madigan's replacement, received 63 percent of the weighted vote with 18th Ward committeeperson and Ald. Derrick Curtis and Stickney committeeperson Vincent Cainkar also voting to appoint Kodatt, the newspaper reported.

State Rep. and 14th Ward committeeperson Aaron Ortiz and 23rd Ward Ald. and committeeperson Silvana Tabares nominated other candidates.

Madigan's 56 percent of the weighted vote comes from him serving as Democratic committeeperson of the city's 13th Ward, according to NBC.

Related On Patch: Former House Speaker Michael Madigan Resigns His State Rep. Seat

Opponents of the process that named a replacement less than 72 hours after Madigan's resignation, including the Coalition for Change in IL3, were quick to criticize the Kodatt appointment.

"Madigan’s fix was in," the organization wrote in a statement Sunday. "There was no deliberation between committeepeople, only nominations. In just 14 minutes between Kodatt’s introduction and questions, the people of the 22nd District were incredibly disserviced from their new representative, who stated no positions on major policies."

In January, Madigan was unable to win enough votes to remain speaker of the Illinois House, a position he had held since 1983, save for two years in the '90s when Republicans controlled the state house. He was replaced by state Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, a Madigan supporter from Hillside.

Related On Patch: Rep. Chris Welch Succeeds Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan

Madigan had been implicated but not charged in the federal government's massive public corruption probe that led to ComEd pleading guilty to engaging in a bribery scheme aimed at gaining his favor on legislation.