In practice here in IL... newest Speaker of the House of state legislators is Emanuel Welch (who is black). Seems like he wasn't "next in line" after Mike "Jailbird" Madigan, but that's where he is right now.

Now, will he ever be out of that post? Highly doubt it, unless he goes to say, IL State Senate or the US House.

Off-topic: lately the Bears stadium has been in the news. Maybe a month ago, Welch announced that any $$ for the Bears stadium (probably mostly sewers and roads, etc.) wasn't happening in 2026. Bears said "hey East Chicago, got room for a stadium??" And suddenly, ol' Fatazz Pritzker is coming out very publicly saying, hey, let's not be too hasty here: plenty of construction jobs/contracts?? Those should stay in IL....

LOL.