(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – James “Pate” Philip, a Republican state lawmaker from DuPage County who once wielded considerable power and influence in the Illinois Senate, has died.
Philip passed away Tuesday at the age of 93. Fellow Republican Jim Durkin, who was a legislative leader in the House, remembered his predecessor fondly.
The silver-haired, cigar-chomping Philip, he said, represented a bygone era when political powerbrokers in the Legislature managed to make deals but still stay cordial.
“I think that that world is over,” Durkin told WBBM Newsradio on Tuesday. “We should be in a place where we have leaders who are going to say, ‘We are going to cut the you-know-what out. Let’s just get some things done.’”
Durkin also praised Philips’ Democratic counterpart in the Senate, Phil Rock of Oak Park, for working with the other side of the aisle.
“They were adversaries, but they also knew that they had to sit down and find compromise. And they did, on a lot of things.”
Now, Durkin says, the tone is too rancorous between legislative leaders – and even within factions of the Republican Party.
Philip, a Wood Dale resident, served as Senate president from 1993 to 2003, capping a nearly four-decade career in Springfield. During his tenure, the political demographics were much different than today. DuPage County was considered a GOP stronghold with outsize influence on the state’s legislative agenda, and the governor’s mansion for decades was occupied by Republicans.
Philip was known for his easygoing demeanor but occasionally came under fire for his remarks about Chicago and minority communities. In one well-publicized incident, he was asked about bilingual education and responded, “Let ‘em learn English.”
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