South suburban Democrats move to replace former Rep. Harry Benton after undisclosed ethics findings

PLAINFIELD, Ill. (WLS) -- The process to replace former state Rep. Harry Benton is underway after the Plainfield Democrat resigned last week following an ethics investigation that legislative leaders described as revealing "outrageous and unbecoming behavior."

Benton stepped down two days after Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch called for his resignation over ethics violations that have not been publicly disclosed. In a letter, Benton said he was leaving the legislature and intended to withdraw his name from the November ballot.

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"It was in the report that his behavior was outrageous, unethical and unprofessional," Welch said. "That was enough for me to make the determination that he should resign."

Welch said several victims brought concerns about Benton to his attention in February and that the internal process functioned as intended.

"They trusted us to listen to them; they trusted us to have procedures in place that would protect them, protect their confidentiality, and we had a process in place that guaranteed due process of the accused," he said.

Democratic leaders in Will and Kendall counties will choose Benton's replacement for the 97th House District, one of the state's more politically competitive areas. The weighted vote gives Will County Democratic Party Chairman Billy Morgan the ability to make the selection on his own.

"We need someone who will be pragmatic and effective in Springfield," Morgan said. "They need to be somebody who understands how to get things done, and someone who's a real fighter for the 97th district."

Morgan has launched a website for interested candidates and said several people have already reached out. Meanwhile, the legislative inspector general has until the end of July to submit a final report to the Legislative Ethics Commission, which can choose to release all, some or none of the findings.

Morgan said he believes the report should be made public.

"I think the voters deserve all the answers that they can get," he said.

He added that Benton's departure was necessary.

"At the moment, I think that we're in a very kind of bittersweet period of time where I think it was the right decision for him to resign. It was the right decision for him to step aside from the ballot," Morgan said.

Candidates have until next Monday at 5 p.m. to apply for the open seat, and Morgan expects a selection to be made within 30 days. Benton did not respond to a request for comment.