When I wanted to know what was happening in Illinois politics, I would saddle up next to Craig Roberts at the Capitol Hill Club.
Nobody had a better sense of what was (or wasn’t) happening with the Republican Party in Land of Lincoln than Craig.
For 24 years, Roberts served as the Chief of Staff to Congressman John Shimkus, a prominent former member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Shimkus should have been the Chairman of the full committee, and when he didn’t get the job, he announced he was retiring.
That’s the downside of a Committee system that doesn’t necessarily respect the regular order. Shimkus was a gifted legislator and he had a talented chief in Craig Roberts. Craig knew how to run a good staff, make sure that the local folks were getting the answers that they needed from Shimkus, and make the trains run on time. He was more than a Chief, but he knew who the boss was and was deferential to the process.
Roberts was also a widely-respected mentor to hundreds if not thousands of young staffers over the year. He had a welcoming presence and was more than willing to share the opened bottle of Ancient Peaks red wine that sat ubiquitously at his table after 5 pm pretty much every night the House was in session,.
Roberts served on the Executive Committee for the Capitol Hill Club and he proved to be an invaluable resource as it navigated Covid, a myriad of security issues, and a variety of other questions that come from the only club dedicated exclusively to serving the Republican Party faithful.
Craig wasn’t the type to lose his cool. He was a calm presence in a crazy world and he had a wry view of the turmoil that seemed to follow the House Republicans. After Shimkus left, Craig worked on the House Administration Committee for a spell, and then he did something I never thought he could possibly do. He became a lobbyist.
He worked with one of the best in the legendary John Milne, and the two became quite the team. Milne is originally from Farina, Illinois and he shared Roberts downstate mentality. If you are from the Southern part of Illinois, you share a certain cynical outlook about the gangsters who run the big city of Chicago. You know the politics. You just don’t have the votes to do anything about them.
Craig took to lobbying and became a critical part of team Milne, helping Big John set up meetings and making sure that everybody was where they needed to be.
Last week, Craig was under the weather and went to the doctor to deal with a virus of some kind. He told Milne that he expected to be in the office on Friday but he never made it in. He died some time on Thursday night or Friday morning.
We lost an institution last week in Craig Roberts. May he rest in peace.
Well said, Feehery.