West Cook News

House Speaker Chris Welch was the subject of a press conference Saturday morning in which he is accused of improperly using on-duty police in his campaign re-election efforts. 

Hillside resident Roger Romanelli made the allegation of the improper usage of state-funded police for campaign purposes with Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office. 

"Welch broke Illinois law intentionally by using Hillside police officers on duty for Welch's political campaign, even though Illinois needs all of its police officers on duty to fight crime. In Welch's district, criminals are committing carjackings, shootings, gang violence, and theft," a press release promoting the event reads. "This January and February, Welch ran video ads on YouTube promoting his Democratic Party candidacy for the June 28th primary election. In his videos, Welch shows a photo of him standing inside the Hillside government building alongside two Hillside police officers wearing official gear and appearing to be on duty. By Illinois law, this is illegal." 

Romanelli’s complaint to Foxx centers on a professional photo Welch took with police that was later included in a YouTube ad. 

"I believe that Welch broke the law by taking political photos with Hillside police officers on duty inside the Hillside government building next to the Hillside police headquarters," Romanelli wrote to Foxx. "Even if the officers posed voluntarily, the law prohibits Welch from conducting political activities inside any government building or using any government-funded police officers on duty. I believe that Welch or someone from his team knew that they were breaking the law. They altered the appearance of the officers’ badges in their photo, attempting to conceal the officers' identities."

Romanelli argues the photo is in violation of the Illinois statute (10 ILCS 5/9-25.1) on Election Interference. Under the law, offenders should be subjected to a charge of class B misdemeanor. 

"No public funds shall be used to urge any elector to vote for or against any candidate or proposition, or be appropriated for political or campaign purposes to any candidate or political organization," the statute reads. "This Section shall not prohibit the use of public funds for dissemination of factual information relative to any proposition appearing on an election ballot, or for dissemination of information and arguments published and distributed under law in connection with a proposition to amend the Constitution of the State of Illinois."

Welch was a close confidant of indicted former House Speaker Michael Madigan before becoming his successor. He is accused of protecting Madigan in 2020 after closing a probe into the ComEd bribery scandal. Welch was the chairman of the committee investigating Madigan’s behavior.