Phelps waving during an Eldorado Town & Country Days parade a couple of years back
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS - We've confirmed with Brandon Phelps that he's going to be leaving the office he holds a s state representative as of September.
Phelps, the 47-year-old Democrat from Harrisburg who's held the office of state representative for the 118th District of Illinois since 2003, told Disclosure this morning that he is going to be giving up the office because of health concerns as they relate to his eye.
Phelps lost vision in his eye in a hunting accident years ago, and the eye has been giving him problems pretty consistently for the past two years or so. The consideration, as we understand it, is that he might have to have surgery to remove the eye, which would require a lengthy recovery and which would take him out of the Illinois House of Representatives and force him to be absent from his position. His district covers Alexander, Gallatin, Hardin, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski and Saline counties, and portions of Hamilton, Jackson and Union counties.
Phelps didn't commit to a date for resignation of the position, but other sources advised that it could be as early as September 1, which is this Friday.
Phelps also didn't say who might be replacing him; we've heard from various Democrats in the area that it could be Tyler Edmonds, Union County State's Attorney, and we've also heard that Phelps' uncle, David Phelps, has a daughter who is a physician's assistant who might be asked to step up.
Brandon Phelps swept the election last November, defeating challenger Jason Kasiar after Kasiar's indiscretions while married - and with a married woman, Molly Wilson-Dearing (now Kasiar) - destroyed his chances. We've heard that Kasiar, who ran a vicious campaign to no avail, intends to run again next year, but we'll have to see.
Phelps will be missed. He was the downstate rep who almost single-handedly helped get Illinois' Concealed Carry Act pushed through in 2013. After that victory, many opined that Phelps should run for governor, but he remained a rep so he could work closely with the downstate constituents who have counted on him to reach across the aisle between governors and representatives and bridged the gap between the elitist Mike Madigan and other representatives, helping broker deals that were acceptable for both parties.
Brandon Phelps at right, on the ballot for State Representative of the 118th District, chats with a couple of constituents at the shelter of the park in Eldorado at a fundraising event for the late Mike Henshaw last year.