Illinois Republicans press Democrats for answers on state Rep. Harry Benton's removal from caucus

Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune on Mar 11, 2026

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s office continues to decline to explain why it removed one of its Democratic lawmakers from key caucus duties two weeks ago — prompting the House Republicans’ political arm to now accuse the office of lacking transparency about the situation.

In late February, House Democratic leadership stripped state Rep. Harry Benton, a Democrat from Plainfield, of his committee assignments and removed him from the House Democratic Caucus for reasons leadership has not detailed.

Welch’s office has repeatedly declined to comment on the situation, and calls to Benton have gone to a voicemail that does not allow for messages to be left.

While Benton is running unopposed for his House seat in next week’s Democratic primary, both Gabby Shanahan, Benton’s presumptive GOP opponent in November, and the House Republican Organization, which represents Shanahan’s election efforts, called for answers Tuesday as to why Benton was under scrutiny. The GOP organization also criticized House Democratic leadership for not being transparent with voters about why it took the actions against Benton, who is in his second term.

The organization in its Tuesday release also cited a Feb. 25 report from “The Illinoize,” a newsletter about Illinois politics, that reported how multiple sources said Benton was removed from his caucus because of sexual harassment allegations. Separately, a source familiar with the situation told the Chicago Tribune the allegations were of a sexual harassment nature.

Welch’s predecessor as House speaker, Michael Madigan, lost his grip on his caucus for his poor handling of sexual harassment allegations made by a campaign worker against one of his top lieutenants. Madigan himself was not accused of sexual harassment, but he resigned from the House amid a sweeping federal corruption investigation that landed him in prison.

“If Democratic leadership believed Benton’s conduct was serious enough to justify removing him from their caucus and stripping him of committee assignments, the public deserves to know why and how it is being handled,” the House Republican Organization said in its news release.

In a separate news release released by HRO on Tuesday on Shanahan’s behalf, she said, “The people of this district deserve transparency, and they deserve representation that reflects the integrity and accountability our community expects.”

A November contest between Benton and Shanahan would be a rematch of the 2024 general election, in which Benton won by more than 2,300 votes — 27,540 to 25,505, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.

It’s not the first time that Welch, who has been House speaker since 2021, stripped House members under him of key caucus duties.

Last year, Democratic state Rep. Fred Crespo of Hoffman Estates was ousted from his committee chairmanship post and disinvited from internal House Democratic caucus meetings after running afoul of House Democratic leadership by working on a budget plan separately from the party caucus during the final weeks of the spring legislative session.

In 2023, Welch removed then-longtime Democratic state Rep. Mary Flowers of Chicago from his leadership after it was alleged that she repeatedly engaged in inappropriate behavior that included saying a Democratic staffer looked like Adolf Hitler.

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