Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) left, and House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) attend the 2023 inauguration ceremony for the Illinois House. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]  

Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) is planning to return to Springfield and continue serving in the House following her primary election defeat on March 19. The loss will end Flowers’ political career next January following 40 years in the General Assembly.

Flowers lost the 31st House District Democratic primary to Mike Crawford, dean of The Chicago School, 69 percent to 31 percent last week. Crawford’s victory was orchestrated by House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) after the speaker barred Flowers from House Democratic caucus meetings last spring.  

In an interview with The Daily Line Thursday, Flowers said she is planning to come back to Springfield at some point during the final two months of session, which are set to begin on Tuesday. But she said she expects to face obstacles.  

“Unfortunately, what has happened over the last four years I have not been able to address any of my bills, they have not gotten out of committee, and for the ones that did get out of committee, it was always a fight,” Flowers said.  

Flowers’ political career, and her relationship with Welch, changed dramatically during the 2023 spring session. Welch initially made Flowers a deputy majority leader and gave her a position that allowed her to sit on any House committee in January. But by May, the speaker removed her from her leadership role and from caucus meetings over accusations of bullying and after remarking that a staff member resembled Adolf Hitler.  

That led to Welch’s support for Crawford in hopes of removing Flowers from the House entirely. Labor unions, Welch’s leadership team and Welch put in $1.6 million to defeat Flowers.   

Flowers has acknowledged making the Hitler remark and that her approach to conversations is different than many other lawmakers. But she also contended part of the reason Welch targeted her was related to Flowers approaching Welch about concerns House Democratic staffers had with their work environment, which eventually became a public effort to form a staff union.   

“The speaker kind of had me targeted before then because he really didn’t help me the last election when I had a race with the Republican in the general,” Flowers said of the election she won by 54 points in 2022.   

Flowers said she doesn’t have many regrets over the situation.   

“I have no regret about my experience,” Flowers said. “My only regret is how it ended and why it ended that why. But that’s politics, I guess. I was never good at playing the game of politics. I didn’t mind policy, but politics was something I never focused in on.”  

She also refutes that her actions in caucus meetings toward other members were inappropriate.   

“You have to realize I have been there longer than anyone else,” Flowers said. “Everyone that came into that room, into that caucus, throughout my almost 40 years in office, they found me speaking up and speaking out.”  

Flowers recalled several stories about legislation she has worked on and recalled how she has always had to speak up about realities that poor people, people of color, and in particular Black women face because lawmakers, regardless of party, required more education on the issues.   

“When people talk about me speaking up and out, I’m speaking on the issues,” Flowers said.   

“I make no apologies because my constituents in 1984 did not elect me to come to Springfield to be quiet. I was there to be a change maker, to investigate what are the problems,” she said.   

What Flowers will do when she returns to Springfield is unclear. She’s not a member on any committees and none of her bills are currently assigned to a committee, though she has missed much of the spring session so far.   

“The powers that be, I’m not calling any names, have encouraged these chairmen to give me a difficult time,” Flowers said.   

She said she wants to focus on healthcare issues in her final term.  

“I would love to be able to continue to do my work because there are some things that are going on in these medical schools that I would really like to address,” Flowers said.   

Her relationship with Welch doesn’t appear to be changing, however. A spokesperson for Welch told The Daily Line that Flowers’ status with the House Democratic caucus (being prohibited from attending caucus meetings) has not changed.  

“My relationship with Speaker Welch, I wasn’t his favorite person, and he was not my favorite speaker,” Flowers said, though any tension between the two lawmakers wasn’t apparent until last May.   

Flowers added she’s not holding it against her colleagues who helped Welch campaign against Flowers.  

“I am not angry about the decisions that they made,” Flowers said. “That is what was requested of them, that is what they did … If I was worth $2 million for you guys to get rid of, if you can find satisfaction in that.”  

A political spokesperson for Welch did not return a request to discuss election results.  

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) told The Daily Line she is sad Flowers will be leaving.   

“If I was one of [the House Democrats], that would send a message to me that if I don’t stay in line, I will be challenged,” McCombie said.   

Flowers, 72, said she now plans to retire, but explained why she didn’t do that sooner after first getting sworn in as a state representative in 1984.  

“I could’ve retired 20 years ago,” Flowers said. “I had my age, I had my time, but I guess I was just so preoccupied. Really, I was so preoccupied by the work that I was doing. I happened to love my job.”