State Rep. Andre Thapedi resigning from the state house

Found this on twitter just now and best wishes to Rep. Thapedi

I can confirm. We talked about an hour ago https://t.co/vwUMgotsNb

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) January 31, 2021

State Rep. André Thapedi (D-Chicago) is set to resign from his seat in the Illinois House after 12 years, he told NPR Illinois on Sunday.

Thapedi, who has served as representative for the 32nd District since 2009, said he wants to take an active role in searching for a replacement for his seat. The 32nd District stretches westward from Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood to south suburban Hickory Hills.

The Chicago Democrat also said his decision is driven in part by family. Thapedi’s father passed away last summer and his mother, retired Cook County Judge Llwellyn Thapedi, died in 2014.

“I’m at peace with my decision,” Thapedi said.
...
Thapedi last week was again named [Chair of the House Judiciary - Civil committee] by new House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside), but Thapedi said he’s quietly been searching for a possible replacement among his colleagues, noting he was the first Black chair of the committee since former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington — for whom his mother had been a campaign attorney in the 1980s.

Outside of the legislature, Thapedi owns his own law firm, which handles general litigation and land use cases. Thapedi and his mother practiced law together for more than a decade until her death.

Thapedi earlier this month was sworn into the House for his seventh term. As 18th Ward Committeeman, Ald. Derrick Curtis (18) has the most weighted votes of those inside the 32nd District to choose his Thapedi’s successor, followed by Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6) in his capacity as committeeman. Together, the pair have more than half of the weighted votes in the district.

Thapedi said he’s been reflecting since his father’s death last year, around the time of the protests surrounding George Floyd’s murder by a police officer in Minneapolis. Thapedi was with his father when he died at his Las Vegas home and said the moment inspired him to write a House Resolution calling for reparations for all Illinoisans of African descent. Democrats in the House adopted the resolution in early January when the legislature met for its Lame Duck session.

Another legislative seat up for grabs and you have an idea who might have the power to make the appointment at least through the 2022 gubernatorial elections.