# Illinois House of Representatives

The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representatives elected from individual legislative districts for two-year terms with no limits; redistricted every 10 years, based on the 2010 U.S. census each representative represents approximately 108,734 people.
The house has the power to pass bills and impeach Illinois officeholders. Lawmakers must be at least 21 years of age and a resident of the district in which they serve for at least two years.
President Abraham Lincoln began his career in politics in the Illinois House of Representatives.

## History

The Illinois General Assembly was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The candidates for office split into political parties in the 1830s, initially as the Democratic and Whig parties, until the Whig candidates reorganized as Republicans in the 1850s.
Abraham Lincoln began his political career in the Illinois House of Representatives as a member of the Whig party in 1834. He served there until 1842. Although Republicans held the majority of seats in the Illinois House after 1860, in the next election it returned to the Democrats. The Democratic Party-led legislature worked to frame a new state constitution that was ultimately rejected by voters After the 1862 election, the Democratic-led Illinois House of Representatives passed resolutions denouncing the federal government's conduct of the war and urging an immediate armistice and peace convention, leading the Republican governor to suspend the legislature for the first time in the state's history. In 1864, Republicans swept the state legislature and at the time of Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theater, Illinois stood as a solidly Republican state.
State House of Representatives elected through Cumulative voting from 1870 to 1980. The use of that system was meant to secure a degree of representation for minority blacks and the non-dominant party through use of multi-member districts and special type of multiple voting.
From 1870 to 1980, Illinois's lower house had several unique features:
* The House had 177 members. The state was divided into 59 legislative districts, each of which elected one senator and three representatives.
* Elections for the state house were conducted using cumulative voting; each individual voter was given three votes to cast for House seats, and they could distribute them to three candidates (one vote each), one candidate (receiving three votes—this was called a bullet vote) or two candidates (each receiving 1½ votes).
* Though not constitutionally mandated, the two parties had an informal agreement that they would only run two candidates per district. Thus, in most districts, only four candidates were running for three seats. This not only all but guaranteed that the district's minority party would win a seat (particularly outside Chicago), but usually assured that each party would have significant representation—a minimum of one-third of the seats (59 out of 177)—in the House. (The only historic exception to the minimum 59 seat rule was in 1875 and during WWI.)

### Cutback Amendment of 1980

The Cutback Amendment was proposed to abolish Illinois's use of Cumulative Voting and multi-member districts.
Since its passage in 1980, representatives have been elected from 118 single-member districts formed by dividing the 59 Senate districts in half, a method known as nesting. Each senator is "associated" with two representatives.
Since the adoption of the Cutback Amendment, there have been proposals by some major political figures in Illinois to bring back multi-member districts. A task force led by former governor Jim Edgar and former federal judge Abner Mikva issued a report in 2001 calling for the revival of cumulative voting, in part because it appears that such a system increases the representation of racial minorities in elected office. The Chicago Tribune editorialized in 1995 that the multi-member districts elected with cumulative voting produced better legislators. Others have argued that the now-abandoned system provided for greater stability in the lower house.
The Democratic Party won a majority of House seats in 1982. Except for a brief two-year period of Republican control from 1995 to 1997, the Democrats have held the majority since then.

### Firsts

The first two African-American legislators in Illinois were John W. E. Thomas, first elected in 1876, and George French Ecton, elected in 1886. In 1922, Lottie Holman O'Neill became the first woman elected to the Illinois House of Representatives (she was elected in the first election in which women could vote or run for election). In 1958, Floy Clements became the first African American woman to serve as state Representative. In 1982, Joseph Berrios became the first Hispanic American state representative. Theresa Mah became the first Asian American to serve in the Illinois House when she was sworn into office January 10, 2017.

## Powers

The Illinois House of Representatives meets at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. It is required to convene on the second Wednesday of January each year. Along with the Illinois Senate and governor, it is vested with the power to make laws, come up with a state budget, act on federal constitutional amendments, and propose constitutional amendments to the state constitution. The Illinois House of Representatives also holds the power to impeach executive and judicial officials.

## Qualifications

A person must be a U.S. citizen and two-year resident of an electoral district of at least 21 years of age to serve in the Illinois House of Representatives. Members of the House cannot hold other public offices or receive appointments by the governor while in office.

## Composition of the House

| Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Total | |
| Affiliation | Democratic | Republican | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous legislature | 67 | 51 | 118 | 0 |
| 2019–2021 | 74 | 44 | 118 | 0 |
| January 13, 2021 | 73 | 45 | 118 | 0 |
| February 18, 2021 | 72 | 45 | 117 | 1 |
| February 21, 2021 | 73 | 45 | 118 | 0 |
| February 24, 2021 | 72 | 45 | 117 | 1 |
| End of previous legislature | 73 | 45 | 118 | 0 |
| Current | 78 | 40 | 118 | 0 |
| Latest voting share | 66% | 34% | | |

## Leadership

The current Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives is Emanuel Chris Welch, a Democrat from Hillside, who represents the 7th district. The Democratic Party of Illinois currently holds a super-majority of seats in the House. Under the Constitution of Illinois, the office of minority leader is recognized for the purpose of making certain appointments. Tony McCombie, of Savanna, who represents the 89th district, currently holds that post. Both leaders appointed their leadership teams shortly after the start of the 103rd General Assembly.

## Officers

* Clerk of the House: John W. Hollman
* Chief Doorkeeper: Lee A. Crawford
* Parliamentarian: James Hartmann
* Assistant Clerk of the House: Bradley S. Bolin

## Members

As of June 5, 2024, the 103rd General Assembly of the Illinois House of Representatives consists of the following members:
| District | Representative | Party | Start | Residence |
| 1 | Aaron Ortiz | Democratic | January 9, 2019 | Chicago |
| 2 | Elizabeth Hernandez | Democratic | January 10, 2007 | Cicero |
| 3 | Eva-Dina Delgado Ɨ | Democratic | November 15, 2019 | Chicago |
| 4 | Lilian Jiménez ƗƗ | Democratic | December 15, 2022 | Chicago |
| 5 | Kimberly du Buclet Ɨ | Democratic | May 15, 2023 | Chicago |
| 6 | Sonya Harper Ɨ | Democratic | October 20, 2015 | Chicago |
| 7 | Emanuel Chris Welch | Democratic | January 9, 2013 | Hillside |
| 8 | La Shawn Ford | Democratic | January 10, 2007 | Chicago |
| 9 | Yolonda Morris Ɨ | Democratic | September 12, 2023 | Chicago |
| 10 | Jawaharial Williams Ɨ | Democratic | May 1, 2019 | Chicago |
| 11 | Ann Williams | Democratic | January 12, 2011 | Chicago |
| 12 | Margaret Croke ƗƗ | Democratic | January 2, 2021 | Chicago |
| 13 | Hoan Huynh | Democratic | January 11, 2023 | Chicago |
| 14 | Kelly Cassidy Ɨ | Democratic | April 12, 2011 | Chicago |
| 15 | Michael Kelly Ɨ | Democratic | November 23, 2021 | Chicago |
| 16 | Kevin Olickal | Democratic | January 11, 2023 | Skokie |
| 17 | Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz ƗƗ | Democratic | December 21, 2018 | Glenview |
| 18 | Robyn Gabel Ɨ | Democratic | April 19, 2010 | Evanston |
| 19 | Lindsey LaPointe Ɨ | Democratic | July 24, 2019 | Chicago |
| 20 | Bradley Stephens Ɨ | Republican | June 29, 2019 | Rosemont |
| 21 | Abdelnasser Rashid | Democratic | January 11, 2023 | Justice |
| 22 | Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar Ɨ | Democratic | February 25, 2021 | Chicago |
| 23 | Edgar González Jr. Ɨ | Democratic | January 10, 2020 | Chicago |
| 24 | Theresa Mah | Democratic | January 11, 2017 | Chicago |
| 25 | Curtis Tarver | Democratic | January 9, 2019 | Chicago |
| 26 | Kam Buckner Ɨ | Democratic | January 18, 2019 | Chicago |
| 27 | Justin Slaughter Ɨ | Democratic | January 5, 2017 | Chicago |
| 28 | Robert Rita | Democratic | January 8, 2003 | Blue Island |
| 29 | Thaddeus Jones | Democratic | January 12, 2011 | Calumet City |
| 30 | Will Davis | Democratic | January 8, 2003 | Homewood |
| 31 | Mary E. Flowers | Democratic | January 8, 1985 | Chicago |
| 32 | Cyril Nichols Ɨ | Democratic | April 8, 2021 | Chicago |
| 33 | Marcus C. Evans Jr. Ɨ | Democratic | April 13, 2012 | Chicago |
| 34 | Nicholas Smith Ɨ | Democratic | February 4, 2018 | Chicago |
| 35 | Mary Gill Ɨ | Democratic | March 28, 2023 | Chicago |
| 36 | Kelly M. Burke | Democratic | January 12, 2011 | Evergreen Park |
| 37 | Patrick Sheehan Ɨ | Republican | April 13, 2024 | Lockport |
| 38 | Debbie Meyers-Martin | Democratic | January 9, 2019 | Olympia Fields |
| 39 | Will Guzzardi | Democratic | January 14, 2015 | Chicago |
| 40 | Jaime Andrade Jr. Ɨ | Democratic | August 12, 2013 | Chicago |
| 41 | Janet Yang Rohr | Democratic | January 13, 2021 | Naperville |
| 42 | Terra Costa Howard | Democratic | January 9, 2019 | Glen Ellyn |
| 43 | Anna Moeller Ɨ | Democratic | March 30, 2014 | Elgin |
| 44 | Fred Crespo | Democratic | January 10, 2007 | Hoffman Estates |
| 45 | Jenn Ladisch Douglass | Democratic | January 11, 2023 | Elmhurst |
| 46 | Diane Blair-Sherlock ƗƗ | Democratic | December 7, 2022 | Villa Park |
| 47 | Amy Grant | Republican | January 9, 2019 | Wheaton |
| 48 | Jennifer Sanalitro | Republican | January 11, 2023 | Hanover Park |
| 49 | Maura Hirschauer | Democratic | January 13, 2021 | Batavia |
| 50 | Barbara Hernandez Ɨ | Democratic | March 7, 2019 | Aurora |
| 51 | Nabeela Syed | Democratic | January 11, 2023 | Inverness |
| 52 | Martin McLaughlin | Republican | January 13, 2021 | Barrington Hills |
| 53 | Nicolle Grasse Ɨ | Democratic | June 5, 2024 | Arlington Heights |
| 54 | Mary Beth Canty | Democratic | January 11, 2023 | Arlington Heights |
| 55 | Marty Moylan | Democratic | January 9, 2013 | Des Plaines |
| 56 | Michelle Mussman | Democratic | January 12, 2011 | Schaumburg |
| 57 | Tracy Katz Muhl Ɨ | Democratic | January 11, 2024 | Northbrook |
| 58 | Bob Morgan | Democratic | January 9, 2019 | Deerfield |
| 59 | Daniel Didech | Democratic | January 9, 2019 | Buffalo Grove |
| 60 | Rita Mayfield Ɨ | Democratic | July 6, 2010 | Waukegan |
| 61 | Joyce Mason | Democratic | January 9, 2019 | Gurnee |
| 62 | Laura Faver Dias | Democratic | January 11, 2023 | Grayslake |
| 63 | Steve Reick | Republican | January 11, 2017 | Woodstock |
| 64 | Tom Weber | Republican | January 9, 2019 | Lake Villa |
| 65 | Dan Ugaste | Republican | January 9, 2019 | Geneva |
| 66 | Suzanne Ness | Democratic | January 13, 2021 | Crystal Lake |
| 67 | Maurice West | Democratic | January 9, 2019 | Rockford |
| 68 | Dave Vella | Democratic | January 13, 2021 | Rockford |
| 69 | Joe Sosnowski | Republican | January 12, 2011 | Rockford |
| 70 | Jeff Keicher Ɨ | Republican | July 5, 2018 | DeKalb |
| 71 | Daniel Swanson | Republican | January 11, 2017 | Woodhull |
| 72 | Gregg Johnson | Democratic | January 11, 2023 | East Moline |
| 73 | Ryan Spain | Republican | January 11, 2017 | Peoria |
| 74 | Bradley Fritts | Republican | January 11, 2023 | Dixon |
| 75 | Jed Davis | Republican | January 11, 2023 | Newark |
| 76 | Lance Yednock | Democratic | January 9, 2019 | Ottawa |
| 77 | Norma Hernandez | Democratic | January 11, 2023 | Melrose Park |
| 78 | Camille Lilly Ɨ | Democratic | April 27, 2010 | Chicago |
| 79 | Jackie Haas ƗƗ | Republican | December 8, 2020 | Bourbonnais |
| 80 | Anthony DeLuca Ɨ | Democratic | March 6, 2009 | Chicago Heights |
| 81 | Anne Stava-Murray | Democratic | January 9, 2019 | Downers Grove |
| 82 | Nicole La Ha Ɨ | Republican | December 20, 2023 | Homer Glen |
| 83 | Matt Hanson | Democratic | January 11, 2023 | Aurora |
| 84 | Stephanie Kifowit | Democratic | January 9, 2013 | Oswego |
| 85 | Dagmara Avelar | Democratic | January 13, 2021 | Bolingbrook |
| 86 | Lawrence M. Walsh Jr. Ɨ | Democratic | April 30, 2012 | Elwood |
| 87 | Bill Hauter ƗƗ | Republican | January 1, 2023 | Morton |
| 88 | Dan Caulkins | Republican | January 9, 2019 | Decatur |
| 89 | Tony McCombie | Republican | January 11, 2017 | Savanna |
| 90 | John Cabello | Republican | January 11, 2023 | Rockford |
| 91 | Sharon Chung | Democratic | January 11, 2023 | Bloomington |
| 92 | Jehan Gordon-Booth | Democratic | January 14, 2009 | Peoria |
| 93 | Travis Weaver | Republican | January 11, 2023 | Edwards |
| 94 | Norine Hammond Ɨ | Republican | December 14, 2010 | Macomb |
| 95 | Michael Coffey Ɨ | Republican | January 11, 2023 | Springfield |
| 96 | Sue Scherer | Democratic | January 9, 2013 | Decatur |
| 97 | Harry Benton | Democratic | January 11, 2023 | Plainfield |
| 98 | Natalie Manley | Democratic | January 9, 2013 | Joliet |
| 99 | Randy Frese | Republican | January 14, 2015 | Paloma |
| 100 | C. D. Davidsmeyer Ɨ | Republican | December 12, 2012 | Jacksonville |
| 101 | Chris Miller | Republican | January 9, 2019 | Charleston |
| 102 | Adam Niemerg | Republican | January 13, 2021 | Dieterich |
| 103 | Carol Ammons | Democratic | January 14, 2015 | Urbana |
| 104 | Brandun Schweizer Ɨ | Republican | December 21, 2023 | Danville |
| 105 | Dennis Tipsword | Republican | January 11, 2023 | Eureka |
| 106 | Jason Bunting Ɨ | Republican | February 4, 2023 | Emington |
| 107 | Brad Halbrook | Republican | January 11, 2017 | Shelbyville |
| 108 | Wayne Rosenthal | Republican | January 11, 2023 | Morrisonville |
| 109 | Charles Meier | Republican | January 9, 2013 | Okawville |
| 110 | Blaine Wilhour | Republican | January 9, 2019 | Beecher City |
| 111 | Amy Elik | Republican | January 13, 2021 | Fosterburg |
| 112 | Katie Stuart | Democratic | January 11, 2017 | Edwardsville |
| 113 | Jay Hoffman | Democratic | January 9, 2013 | Swansea |
| 114 | Kevin Schmidt | Republican | January 11, 2023 | Millstadt |
| 115 | David Friess | Republican | January 13, 2021 | Red Bud |
| 116 | Dave Severin | Republican | January 11, 2017 | Benton |
| 117 | Patrick Windhorst | Republican | January 9, 2019 | Metropolis |
| 118 | Paul Jacobs | Republican | January 13, 2021 | Pomona |
* Ɨ Legislator was appointed to the Illinois House of Representatives during session.
* ƗƗ Legislator was appointed to the Illinois House of Representatives after being elected, but prior to inauguration day of the General Assembly to which they were elected.