Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch is facing calls for answers, or even for his resignation, over his handling of a harassment scandal involving a member of his caucus.
State Rep. Harry Benton resigned his seat earlier this summer after an Inspector General’s report found “clear patterns of conduct” that were “outrageous, unethical and unbecoming” after he was accused of sexual harassment by a former staffer.
He was removed from the House Democratic Caucus earlier this year, and was stripped of is committee assignments, with Welch calling for his resignation.
Questions have since arisen over what Welch knew and when he knew it, and numerous high-profile individuals and organizations have called for his resignation, including the Illinois Republican Women and Alaina Hampton, who was a whistleblower for harassment within the office of former House Speaker Mike Madigan.
In an interview with NBC Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern, Welch defended his handling of the controversy, and was asked directly about the calls for him to step down.
“I serve at the pleasure of the caucus. It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role for three terms. I have given my best every day that I have the opportunity to walk into that capitol, and I’ll continue to serve at the pleasure of the caucus,” he said.
Welch acknowledged failures within the reporting system, and said the staffer who raised the allegations was not adequately supported.
“We basically have 118 employers hiring and firing employees. And so I got to tell you our system the way it’s set up failed this young woman in 2023,” he said. “It failed other women who had been afraid to come forward. And as the leader of this caucus, as the lead of this chamber, I take full responsibility for that. And I take for responsibility for the obligation to fix it. I know we can do better.”
Welch acknowledged he had been aware of a female staffer from Benton’s office that had alleged a complaint of sexual harassment in 2023. He told Ahern the staffer did not file a formal complaint, and ultimately his political operation supported Benton’s reelection campaign in 2024 with donations of $1.4 million.
He says the decision not to censure Benton or call for his resignation stemmed from what he considered issues of “due process.”
“We still did an informal investigation and we brought the representative in and he adamantly denied the allegations,” he said. “And so at that point for me, it’s a due process issue. How do I give this member due process? They have a constitutional right to that. And without due process, I thought the only thing I could do was to continue to support the member.”
Ultimately more complaints against Benton surfaced, and the Inspector General’s report ultimately led to his resignation from the chamber.
Another wrinkle to the controversy has emerged in recent days, as the staffer at the center of the allegations said Welch had made her uncomfortable by inviting her to dinner at a restaurant, and had liked social media posts she had made while the investigation into Benton was underway.
“Clearly, I’ve learned that that is not okay,” he said. “When I read in the Chicago Tribune for the first time that I made that young lady uncomfortable, I felt terrible. And I own that, I regret it, I apologize for that. It certainly won’t happen again.”
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