Mike Madigan replacement Edward Guerra Kodatt resigns after only 3 days, Angelica Guerrero Cuellar nominated as new successor

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Two days after he was sworn in, the man who replaced Mike Madigan as state representative has resigned.

Now things have gone from bad to worse for Edward Guerra Kodatt. Facing pressure to resign as state representative, he stepped down and won't be rehired from the job he had before working in the 13th Ward service office of Alderman Marty Quinn.

On Sunday, Kodatt made his pitch for the job of state representative, saying "It's surreal for me to be here before you today humbly asking for your support."

Kodatt was sworn in as Mike Madigan's hand-picked replacement in the 22nd District on Sunday. Now things have gotten more surreal and humbling. He resigned Tuesday night effective immediately under pressure from Madigan after Madigan became aware of what he referred to as "alleged questionable conduct" by Kodatt.

In a statement, Madigan and Alderman Marty Quinn said "we are committed to a zero tolerance policy in the workplace," but they did not specify what the conduct was.

ABC7 knocked on Kodatt's door at his house on the Southwest Side and called him, but he did not respond to our request for comment.

The whole situation raised questions with critics about the process behind Kodatt's appointment and how it was handled by Madigan.

"It's big disappointment that he had the one chance and 50 years to redeem himself and he played politics like he always does, not even vetting this individual, it's an atrocious process and an atrocious mistake that he made," said Jose Torrez, Coalition for Change Illinois 3rd District.

Madigan has now scheduled a new committee meeting for Thursday. This time, he plans to nominate Angelica Cuellar, a community services manager who received the second most support on Sunday. She had been nominated by Alderman Sylvana Tabares.

"Unfortunately, we find ourselves in a situation that could have been avoided. We could have avoided that if we had done a thorough process," said Ald. Sylvana Tabares, 23rd Ward.

She said there is a lot of distrust in her community.

"I'm not the only one that's frustrated," Tabares said. "The residents of the ward are very frustrated, they're just they've lost faith in the political process."

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker weighed in on the matter Wednesday afternoon.

"Well, let's be clear, the system of replacing a representative or senator has been in place for some time, and I do think it's worth a review," Pritzker said.

Even though he was only a state representative for three days, under state law Kodatt is eligible for an entire month's pay - nearly $5,800.

Ald. Tabares said she would urge Kodatt not to accept the money.