SPRINGFIELD — New Illinois Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) announced his leadership team Jan. 28, on the first day of the 2020 legislative session.
Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood) will remain the chamber’s majority leader, while Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago) will become an assistant majority leader and president pro tempore — a position once held by Harmon under former President John Cullerton before he changed the caucus’ leadership structure.
Sen. Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) will serve in another newly created position — that of deputy majority leader.
Sen. Linda Holmes (D-Aurora), previously a majority caucus whip, will ascend to assistant majority leader as well. She joins Sens. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria), Iris Martinez, (D-Chicago) and Tony Munoz (D-Chicago), who all already held assistant majority leader positions and will retain them.
Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) will remain majority caucus chair, and Jacqueline Collins (D-Chicago) will be the deputy majority conference chair, a newly created position. She was previously a majority caucus whip.
The three new majority caucus whips will be Omar Aquino (D-Chicago), Michael Hastings (D-Tinley Park) and Napoleon Harris (D-Harvey), all new to the position.
Noticeably absent from the list is Sen. Terry Link (D-Indian Creek), who was an assistant majority leader under Cullerton. Chicago newspapers have identified Link as the unnamed senator who cooperated with the FBI and wore a wire in conversations with indicted former Rep. Luis Arroyo.
Link has denied the allegation and has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
