On Feb. 22, former longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan resigned as chairman of the state Democratic Partyone day after anointing 26-year-old constituent services worker Edward Guerra Kodatt to fill the legislative seat he held for a half-century, The Chicago Tribune reported.
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, previously the Democratic vice chair, will take over on an interim basis, the party announced.
Madigan's resignation as the head of the state party, a post he's held since 1998, completes the swift downfall that began when fellow House Democrats deposed him as speaker last month. He had been speaker for almost four decades.
Yarbrough will be the head of the state party until the 36 members of the Democratic State Central Committee meet to choose someone to serve out the remainder of the current term, which ends after the March 2022 primary election. Under Illinois law, that meeting must take place within 30 days.
NBC Chicago reported that U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly announced that she will seek to replace him in that role.