Jordan AbudayyehVerified account

The Speaker was just one person, among many, who recommended candidates for our administration, boards and commissions. All hires and appointments go through a rigorous vetting process and are interviewed for positions to ensure they are qualified before they are hired. 2/X

MANY of the people on this list were already interviewed during the transition or were on our own list of people we wanted to interview long before they were flagged for us by the Speaker. Here’s what I told @WBEZ when they asked about the people on this list… 4/X

Tiffany Newbern-Johnson is an accomplished attorney who worked in the House and did legislative affairs for City of Chicago. She’s highly qualified, was recommended by other elected officials, incl. by the IL Legislative Black Caucus. @cljmitchell personally recommended her. 5/X

Carrie Zalewski is a highly qualified attorney, engineer and state regulator who is accomplished and well-respected in her field. She personally applied for a job through the transition in December of 2018. 6/X

Carmen Ayala has spent her life educating students, earning advanced degrees & working in the highest positions in school administrations. As the list notes, she was not a recommendation of the Speaker, instead by Rep. Hernandez. She was also recommended by the Latino Caucus. 7/X

At this moment in time, to insinuate that qualified women and especially women of color, needed the approval of a white man to get their jobs, erases their accomplishments and entire work history they’ve built on their own. 8/X

Also, it’s just flat out wrong. These women stood on their own merits and we didn’t need a list or anyone’s approval to see how qualified they were. 9/X

Jim Bennett is a well-known activist, also not recommended by the Speaker, but by @repgregharris & many others. Sol Flores, then co-chair of the Pritzker Transition committee, personally submitted his resume, interviewed him & then recommended an interview w/ the Governor. 10/X

Jerry Costello spent years serving as a state representative and personally reached out to the Governor and members of our administration during the transition to inquire about ways he could serve in a new role in the administration. 11/X

Republicans like former Reps. Steve Andersson and David Harris established themselves as elected leaders willing to put policy above politics and were on the Governor’s radar. He personally spoke with both of them during the transition about ways they could serve our state. 12/X

Former Gov. Jim Edgar is on the list and @GovPritzker and Gov. Edgar have a close relationship and have known each other for ten years. Gov. Edgar served on the transition committee. 13/X

Sam Toia has known the Governor personally for decades and is a well-known entity both in Springfield and Chicago. Sam personally reached out to the Governor to discuss ways he could serve in the administration. 14/X

Jim Underwood came highly recommended from various members of organized labor including the AFL-CIO. He also previously served in this role in prior administrations. 15/X

Michael Brennan, Chairman of the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission, is a long-tenured member of the IWCC Board. He was supported by former Senate President John Cullerton as well as organized labor. 16/X

D. Doug McCarthy, WCC Arbitrator, is a well-respected lawyer from downstate Illinois and we were seeking geographical diversity for this board in particular. 17/X

Ron Rascia, General Counsel, Illinois Workers Compensation Commission, we did not hire Ron. He was already in this position. We merely retained him. 18/X

Chris Meister, ED of Illinois Finance Authority. We didn't hire Chris, we merely retained him. He's served in this position for close to 10 years under several admins. He was also supported by former Senate President John Cullerton as well as Bob Reiter of @chicagolabor. 19/X

J. Thomas Willis, Member, Illinois Labor Relations Board, was supported by Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois as well as his wife, State Rep. Kathleen Willis. 20/X

Sam Lapaille was a qualified applicant with significant government relations experience. Sam had experience tracking federal grant opportunities for states and localities, which is a key job function for his position. 21/X

Robert Cantone was an existing member of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) – in its previous iteration of having part time commissioners. When legislation passed changing the makeup of the board, he met the requirements and was vetted and interviewed again. 22/X

Our vetting process was rigorous for any job in the administration. Many many people who were recommended by the Speaker and other public officials didn’t make it through it. 23/X