PHOTOS: New Illinois House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch
Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Hillside, will be the next speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives after days of closed-door meetings with fellow Democrats.
May 2016
In this May 25, 2016, file photo, Illinois Rep. Emanuel 'Chris' Welch, D-Westchester, speaks to lawmakers at the Capitol in Springfield.
May 2019
Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, speaks during a news conference May 29, 2019, at the Capitol in Springfield.
May 2019
Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Hillside, says he is a longtime supporter of women's issues because they are "fundamental." He co-sponsored the Reproductive Health Act, which he spoke in favor of at a rally on May 27, 2019, in Springfield.
April 2019
State Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, right, with hospital workers and community members, protests against the closing of Westlake Hospital on April 15, 2019, in Melrose Park.
August 2019
Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch (D-Hillside) discusses a bill he is promoting to increase the proportion of state purchasing and contracting with minority- and women-owned businesses during a video news conference Thursday, Aug. 27.
October 2019
Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, speaks on the Senate floor in October 2019 at the Capitol in Springfield.
November 2019
During public comments, state Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch addresses the issues concerning seclusion in Chicago Public Schools during a standing room only meeting of the Illinois State Board of Education at the Thompson Center in Chicago on Nov. 22, 2019.
September 2020
Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Hillside, chairs the Special Investigating Committee of House Speaker Michael Madigan in September 2020.
October 2020
State Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch at a news conference outside of Mercy Hospital in Chicago on Oct. 23, 2020.
January 2021
Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Hillside, on the floor as the Illinois House of Representatives convenes at the Bank of Springfield Center on Jan. 8, 2021.
January 2021
Illinois State Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Hillside, left talks with Illinois State Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, during the lame-duck session for the Illinois House of Representatives held at the Bank of Springfield Center, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in Springfield, Ill. The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus has endorsed Rep. Welch, D-Hillside, for Speaker of the House.
January 2021
Illinois state Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, D-Chicago, left, talks with fellow state Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside, during the lame-duck session for the Illinois House of Representatives held at the Bank of Springfield Center, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, in Springfield, Ill.
January 2021
Illinois State Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, center, shows the display of her phone to Illinois State Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside, right, during the lame-duck session for the Illinois House of Representatives held at the Bank of Springfield Center during the COVID-19 pandemic, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, in Springfield, Ill.
January 2021
Illinois State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria, right, talks with Illinois State Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Hillside, on the morning of the final day of the lame-duck session for the Illinois House of Representatives held at the Bank of Springfield Center, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021, in Springfield, Ill.
Michael Madigan, who has been speaker for all but two years since 1983, issued a statement congratulating Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Hillside, as "speaker-elect" minutes before lawmakers were set to make the vote official.
Ulta has 1,262 stores in the U.S., including 55 in Illinois.
Welch sought a unifying tone in his first floor speech as speaker, telling his fellow lawmakers “today will be the last time I talk about us as Democrats or Republicans.”
State lawmakers on Wednesday passed a sweeping overhaul of the state’s criminal justice system that would end cash bail and eventually require every police officer in the state to be equipped with a body camera.