The Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives is seventh (behind the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, and President of the Senate, respectively) in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Illinois.[1][2]
This is a complete list of the Speakers of the Illinois House of Representatives as of January 2021[update]. Each was chosen since the Illinois General Assembly's first session in 1818.
The colors indicate the political party affiliation of each speaker.
| Party color key |
|---|
| Democratic-Republican |
| Democratic |
| Republican |
| Independent |
| # | Speaker | Party | General Assembly |
Date of election |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Messinger | Democratic-Republican | 1st | October 5, 1818 |
| 2 | John McLean | Democratic-Republican | 2nd | December 4, 1820 |
| 3 | William M. Alexander | Democratic-Republican | 3rd | December 2, 1822 |
| 4 | Thomas Mather | Democratic-Republican | 4th | November 15, 1824 |
| 5 | David Blackwell | Democratic | January 2, 1826 | |
| 6 | John McLean | Democratic | 5th | December 4, 1826 |
| 6th | ||||
| 7 | William Lee D. Ewing | Democratic | 7th | December 6, 1830 |
| 8 | Alexander M. Jenkins | Democratic | 8th | December 6, 1832 |
| 9 | James Semple | Democratic | 9th | December 1, 1834 |
| 10th | ||||
| 10 | William Lee D. Ewing | Democratic | 11th | December 3, 1838 |
| 12th | ||||
| 11 | Samuel Hackleton | Democratic | 13th | December 5, 1842 |
| 12 | William Alexander Richardson | Democratic | 14th | December 2, 1844 |
| 13 | Newton Cloud | Democratic | 15th | December 7, 1846 |
| 14 | Zadok Casey | Democratic | 16th | January 1, 1849 |
| 15 | Sidney Breese | Democratic | 17th | January 6, 1851 |
| 16 | John Reynolds | Democratic | 18th | January 3, 1853 |
| 17 | Thomas J. Turner | Anti-Nebraska Democratic | 19th | January 1, 1855 |
| 18 | Samuel Holmes | Democratic | 20th | January 5, 1857 |
| 19 | William Ralls Morrison | Democratic | 21st | January 3, 1859 |
| 20 | Shelby Moore Cullom | Republican | 22nd | January 7, 1861 |
| 21 | Samuel A. Buckmaster | Democratic | 23rd | January 5, 1863 |
| 22 | Allen C. Fuller | Republican | 24th | January 2, 1865 |
| 23 | Franklin Corwin | Republican | 25th | January 7, 1867 |
| 26th | ||||
| 24 | William M. Smith | Republican | 27th | January 4, 1871 |
| 25 | Shelby Moore Cullom | Republican | 28th | January 8, 1873 |
| 26 | Elijah M. Haines | Independent | 29th | January 6, 1875 |
| 27 | James Shaw | Republican | 30th | January 3, 1877 |
| 28 | William A. James | Republican | 31st | January 8, 1879 |
| 29 | Horace H. Thomas | Republican | 32nd | January 5, 1881 |
| 30 | Lorin C. Collins | Republican | 33rd | January 3, 1883 |
| 31 | Elijah M. Haines | Independent | 34th | January 29, 1885 |
| 32 | William F. Calhoun | Republican | 35th | January 5, 1887 |
| 33 | Asa C. Matthews | Republican | 36th | January 9, 1889 |
| 34 | James H. Miller | Republican | May 10, 1889 | |
| 35 | William Granville Cochran | Republican | July 23, 1890 | |
| 36 | Clayton E. Crafts | Democratic | 37th | January 7, 1891 |
| 38th | ||||
| 37 | John Meyer | Republican | 39th | January 9, 1895 |
| 38 | William Granville Cochran | Republican | July 10, 1895 | |
| 39 | Edward C. Curtis | Republican | 40th | January 6, 1897 |
| 40 | Lawrence Y. Sherman | Republican | 41st | January 4, 1899 |
| 42nd | ||||
| 41 | John Henry Miller | Republican | 43rd | January 7, 1903 |
| 42 | Edward D. Shurtleff | Republican | 44th | January 4, 1905 |
| 45th | ||||
| 46th | ||||
| 43 | Charles A. Adkins | Republican | 47th | January 4, 1911 |
| 44 | William Michael McKinley | Democratic | 48th | January 29, 1913 |
| 45 | David E. Shanahan | Republican | 49th | February 17, 1915 |
| 50th | ||||
| 51st | ||||
| 46 | Gotthard A. Dahlberg | Republican | 52nd | January 5, 1921 |
| 47 | David E. Shanahan | Republican | 53rd | January 3, 1923 |
| 48 | Robert Scholes | Republican | 54th | January 7, 1925 |
| 55th | ||||
| 49 | David E. Shanahan | Republican | 56th | January 9, 1929 |
| 57th | ||||
| 50 | Arthur Roe | Democratic | 58th | January 4, 1933 |
| 51 | John P. Devine | Democratic | 59th | January 9, 1935 |
| 52 | Louie E. Lewis | Democratic | 60th | January 6, 1937 |
| 53 | Hugh W. Cross | Republican | 61st | January 3, 1939 |
| 54 | Elmer Jacob Schnackenberg | Republican | 62nd | January 8, 1941 |
| 63rd | ||||
| 55 | Hugh Green | Republican | 64th | January 3, 1945 |
| 65th | ||||
| 56 | Paul Powell | Democratic | 66th | January 10, 1949 |
| 57 | Warren L. Wood | Republican | 67th | January 8, 1951 |
| 68th | ||||
| 69th | ||||
| 70th | ||||
| 58 | Paul Powell | Democratic | 71st | January 7, 1959 |
| 72nd | ||||
| 59 | John W. Lewis, Jr. | Republican | 73rd | January 9, 1963 |
| 60 | John Touhy | Democratic | 74th | January 6, 1965 |
| 61 | Ralph T. Smith | Republican | 75th | January 4, 1967 |
| 76th | ||||
| 62 | Jack E. Walker | Republican | October 14, 1969 | |
| 63 | W. Robert Blair | Republican | 77th | January 6, 1971 |
| 78th | ||||
| 64 | William A. Redmond | Democratic | 79th | January 21, 1975 |
| 80th | ||||
| 81st | ||||
| 65 | George H. Ryan | Republican | 82nd | January 14, 1981 |
| 66 | Arthur A. Telcser | Republican | January 10, 1983 | |
| 67 | Michael J. Madigan | Democratic | 83rd | January 12, 1983 |
| 84th | ||||
| 85th | ||||
| 86th | ||||
| 87th | ||||
| 88th | ||||
| 68 | Lee A. Daniels | Republican | 89th | January 9, 1995 |
| 69 | Michael J. Madigan | Democratic | 90th | January 8, 1997 |
| 91st | ||||
| 92nd | ||||
| 93rd | ||||
| 94th | ||||
| 95th | ||||
| 96th | ||||
| 97th | ||||
| 98th | ||||
| 99th | ||||
| 100th | ||||
| 101st | ||||
| 70 | Emanuel Chris Welch | Democratic | 102nd | January 13, 2021 |
| 103rd |