Springfield, IL – In closed-door meetings Wednesday night, Democrats and Republicans in the Illinois Senate each chose new leaders. As a result of those elections, all of the state's legislative leaders will be from Chicago and its suburbs.
Longtime Senator John Cullerton will take over as Senate President. Cullerton is an attorney who says his close relationship with the Governor and the Speaker of the House will help bring the feuding factions of state government together. That fighting has prevented Illinois lawmakers from passing a major infrastructure program.
Cullerton says a capital bill will be his top priority. "When you have a recession like this, the best thing, and this is what Barack Obama's doing, developing an infrastructure bill, to put people back to work. And that's why that's the number one priority."
The new Minority Leader in the chamber is Senator Christine Radogno of Lemont. Radogno says she will work for greater cooperation, while at the same time pushing her members' agenda.
Radogno says, "Our caucus is going to be about the issues that bring us together, and that the taxpayers are interested in. Those are fiscal issues and taxes. We're going to give people opportunities to succeed on their own."
Radogno is the first woman to reach the highest tier of Illinois' legislative leadership. She says it's exciting to be a "part of history."
Both Cullerton and Radogno were chosen after weeks of internal, tough campaigning. They will assume their promotions in January after an official vote by the new General Assembly.
Cullerton will replace Emil Jones, who's retiring in January. Radogno is replacing Frank Watson, who announced he's stepping down to recover from a stroke.
Amanda Vinicky of Illinois Public Radio's Capitol Bureau produced a feature about the new Senate leaders. You can listen to it by clicking on the audio button.