North Side U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., said Tuesday he was “probably the most relieved person in Washington” when President Joe Biden abandoned his reelection campaign and threw his support to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Quigley was one of the first Democrats in Congress — and the first in Illinois — to urge Biden to drop out of the presidential race after a debate debacle that raised renewed questions about the president’s age and mental acuity.
On Tuesday, Quigley talked with the Sun-Times about why he was willing to stick his political neck out at a time when many fellow Democrats were maneuvering behind Biden’s back.
“There was one thing in my mind, and that was the specter of a second Trump term in office. … The analysis we were getting showed that we weren’t just losing or close in three swing states. There were now seven. There were now 10. There were now 12. Trump was expanding the number of states that he could win,” Quigley said, calling Biden’s shaky standing with voters a “recipe for a red wave.”
“A lot of the front-liners — those in tough districts — appreciated what I was doing. [But] we heard through the grapevine that the president was not a happy camper. … There was a letter they sent out. ... At the end, it said, ‘Those calling for him to step down — this has to stop.’ I get it. It’s very personal. It’s hard to take. It was.”
Biden spent 24 agonizing days fighting for his political life before finally yielding to pressure from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic powerhouses and fundraisers.
“I’m probably the most relieved person in Washington now because, to the president’s credit, he’s always put the country first. He did the right thing,” Quigley said.
“I was concerned the president wouldn’t make the choice or that he would wait too long to make the choice or any number of other things that aren’t helpful. So I was willing, if there was a price, to pay it. … What I thought was, ‘If the president gets out, we’re in a horse race, and you can win a horse race.’ We were in somewhat of a downward spiral before then.”
Biden’s exit makes Trump what Quigley called the “old guy in the race … who has appeared to have cognitive issues.”
If Harris can define herself before Trump defines her, Quigley said he believes the presidential race will go down to the wire and that Democrats also have a decent chance to win control of the House of Representatives.
U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, speaks to students, many of whom came from Ukraine after it was invaded by Russia, at St. Nicholas Cathedral School in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood in October 2022. Continued U.S. funding to support Ukraine has wide support among Democrats in Congress, but many Republicans oppose it.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Quigley is the ranking Democrat on the the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, under the Appropriations Committee. If Democrats win, he would become chairman, giving him more power to bring home the bacon for Chicago and Illinois than any Democrat since former U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., who chaired the Ways and Means Committee.
Already, Quigley and his fellow Illinois Democrats have persuaded the Biden administration to speed up federal funding to extend the CTA’s Red Line from its current terminus at 95th Street to the city limits at 130th Street. Instead of receiving $350 million for the 5.6-mile extension during the first year of the full-funding agreement, the CTA will get $746 million. That will save the city $213 million in financing costs over the life of the 10-year agreement.
The subcommittee Quigley would chair “writes the funding bill for every transit and housing dollar. As a congressman from Chicago, that’s where you want to be. … having a Chicago congressman who is driving this. … If you’re chair of the committee that funds all of this, you’ve got a much better chance to get it all done,” Quigley said.
“There’s a long list. We’ve still got to do the Blue Line. We’ve got to do the Eisenhower. We’ve got to do Lake Shore Drive. There are massive infrastructure projects throughout the entire city of Chicago,” he added.
“But we also got earmarks back,” he said, referring to the resurrected practice of individual members being able to designate funding for specific projects in their districts. “And 85% of the targeted funding comes out of that committee [for] transportation, housing, urban development.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson wants more federal funding for policing and violence intervention, as well as for a migrant crisis that already has cost Chicago taxpayers more than $440 million and could get worse, thanks to the recent election in Venezuela.
A Chicago mayor with his hand out might be expected to work closely with a veteran Chicago congressman. But, Quigley said, “The truth is, I don’t know that I’ve talked to Mayor Johnson more than two or three times” in the nearly 16 months since Johnson took office.
“That’s his choice. … All I can do is put my head down, drive resources back to Chicago and work with as many civic leaders as we we possibly can just to get things done.”
Business leaders tried hard to persuade Quigley to enter the 2023 race for mayor of Chicago. His decision to decline — as did former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan — created the opening in the field for Johnson and his allies at the Chicago Teachers Union.
Quigley demurred when asked Tuesday if he’d consider challenging Johnson in 2027.
“The mayor and I will agree on some things and will disagree on others. I’ll just leave it at that.”
