# Chris Welch

Chris Welch is a Democratic member of the Illinois House for district 7.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Illinois House, district 7
- Serving since: 2013-01-11
- Current term: IL 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/00cc6415-b2a7-45ab-8f69-be5c3ca6752a

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/00cc6415-b2a7-45ab-8f69-be5c3ca6752a (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

94% of the 32 bills Welch sponsored got out of committee, the highest of 116 in the Illinois House.

## What Welch says (IL 2025–26 session)

865 classified statements: 865 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Democrats average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Welch | State House Democrats average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.2% | 2.5% | 390 of 764 |
| Policy criticism | 1.8% | 10.4% | 612 of 764 |
| Policy discussion | 21.7% | 39.2% | 615 of 764 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.7% | 2.9% | 552 of 764 |
| Credit claiming | 16.8% | 14.4% | 288 of 764 |
| Extreme labels | 0.4% | 1.0% | 285 of 764 |

Most discussed policy areas: Government Operations and Politics 29% (State House Democrats 15%); Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 20% (State House Democrats 9.8%); Economics and Public Finance 13% (State House Democrats 11%); Labor and Employment 7.5% (State House Democrats 5.7%); Commerce 7.0% (State House Democrats 3.1%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.87 (standard error 0.03), from 687 donors and 579 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 19% of State House Democrats score lower.

## Votes (IL 2025–26 session)

1,468 roll calls. Attendance 99.1% (Illinois House 92.6%). Party unity 100% (96.7%). 0 votes against the party majority.

## Legislation (IL 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 32 bills: 32 reached committee, 30 passed one chamber, 4 passed both, 2 became law. Cosponsored 117. 93.8% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Illinois House 44.4%; rank 1 of 116).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HB 5796: $FY 2027 BUDGET (in committee, 2026-05-30) https://openstates.org/il/bills/104th/HB5796/
- HR 934: CARIBBEAN AMERICAN MONTH (passed one chamber, 2026-06-01) https://openstates.org/il/bills/104th/HR934/
- HJRCA 28: CONAMEND-REDISTRICTING (passed one chamber, 2026-04-28) https://openstates.org/il/bills/104th/HJRCA28/
- HJRCA 27: CONAMEND-REDISTRICTING (in committee, 2026-07-01) https://openstates.org/il/bills/104th/HJRCA27/
- HR 822: CONGRATS-BYRON BRAZIER, D.MIN. (passed one chamber, 2026-04-17) https://openstates.org/il/bills/104th/HR822/
- HR 671: HONORS-REV. JESSE JACKSON (passed one chamber, 2026-02-17) https://openstates.org/il/bills/104th/HR671/
- HB 5024: MUNI CD-DETENTION FACILITIES (became law, 2026-08-07) https://openstates.org/il/bills/104th/HB5024/
- HR 630: COMMENDS-MIKA BAUGHER (passed one chamber, 2026-01-22) https://openstates.org/il/bills/104th/HR630/
- HR 616: MEMORIAL-ERNIE BAUMANN (passed one chamber, 2026-01-21) https://openstates.org/il/bills/104th/HR616/
- HR 596: MEMORIAL-BISHOP DR. C. PORTER (passed one chamber, 2026-01-20) https://openstates.org/il/bills/104th/HR596/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $15.8M (State House Democrats median $40.4K). 95% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/ChrisWelch_JD/status/2114532888766988578
- 2026-10-24 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/ChrisWelch_JD/status/2114024422382207294
- 2026-10-24 · Post on X · https://x.com/ChrisWelch_JD/status/2114069670177189978
- 2026-10-23 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/ChrisWelch_JD/status/2113709311314518304
- 2026-10-22 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/ChrisWelch_JD/status/2113346420895789223
- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · https://x.com/ChrisWelch_JD/status/2112938211110515049
- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/ChrisWelch_JD/status/2113025069135900970
- 2026-10-20 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/ChrisWelch_JD/status/2112652289093648851
- 2026-10-19 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/ChrisWelch_JD/status/2112236912807428148
- 2026-10-15 · Post on X · https://x.com/ChrisWelch_JD/status/2110852043808096552

## Links

- Official site: https://www.ilga.gov/house/Rep.asp?GA=103&MemberID=3071
- Campaign site: https://www.emanuelchriswelch.com/ https://www.votechriswelch.com/
- X: https://x.com/ChrisWelch_JD
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeakerWelchIL/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WelchForRep/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakerwelchil/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKDeCDG7lD9WOgOZMMjcX5g
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakerwelchil
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emanuelchriswelch

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/00cc6415-b2a7-45ab-8f69-be5c3ca6752a