Several hours after the vote, Mr. Blagojevich, a two-term Democrat, called the news conference at his downtown Chicago office. He denounced the state legislature, quoted inspirational poetry and recited a litany of accomplishments.
He said that the impeachment was a “foregone conclusion,” and suggested that lawmakers were less concerned with the criminal allegations against him than with his policies — all driven, he said, by the Golden Rule — of helping children get health care, providing cheaper medicines from Canada to those in need, pressing for property tax relief and allowing women to get mammograms.
To promote those accomplishments, he brought to stand beside him a dozen Illinois residents who he said had benefited from his policies. They included a man in a wheelchair wearing a neck brace and two young children who played on the floor throughout his remarks.
“Is that an impeachable offense?” he asked repeatedly, after describing ways he had helped individuals.
Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn later said Mr. Blagojevich had sidestepped the real point.
“The governor did not address the central issue, which is the abuse of power,” Mr. Quinn said. “That is really the essence of the charges against him and he’ll have to address them in the Illinois Senate.”
Before the impeachment vote, legislators — who had been called back to Springfield for a special session — had spent the morning discussing the merits of their case against Mr. Blagojevich. Because he has not been convicted of a crime, the committee that recommended impeachment cut a broad swath, making its case on what members called a pattern of the abuse of power in day-to-day government operations.
Rod Blagojevich. 
The Illinois  voted to impeach state governor Rod Blagojevich in a near-unanimous 114-to-1 vote with three representatives not voting.

Blagojevich is facing charges of attempting to sell the state's opening for United States Senator when president-elect Barack Obama takes office on January 20. The vote will now move to the , where a two-thirds majority will be needed to officially remove Blagojevich from the position of .

Blagojevich was arrested on December 9 on suspicion of corruption charges, and was recommended for impeachment after an investigation from the United States House of Representatives. Blagojevich is the first United States governor to be impeached since 1988, when  of Arizona was impeached after a year and three months on the job.

At the beginning of the voting debate, impeachment committee leader , a member of the  and representing Chicago, said that Blagojevich's alleged actions: "Show a public servant who is prepared to turn public service into an avenue for private benefit. They show a public servant who has betrayed his oath of office, who has betrayed the public trust, who is not fit to govern the state of Illinois."

She later said "The totality of the evidence shows that Gov. Blagojevich has forfeited his right to hold office. Whatever their stations, whether petty thieves or governors, those who break the law must not be immune from the consequences and must be held to account for their actions." Milton Patterson, a Democrat also representing Chicago, was the only member of the House of Representatives to vote against the impeachment of Blagojevich, but did not speak in defense of him. 

The report that recommended his impeachment heavily criticized Blagojevich's actions. It stated that "''the governor repeatedly demonstrated that his decision to appoint a senator would not be based on merits of the candidate or on public policy, but rather on how that appointment could benefit him personally.'' It added "''The governor directed various individuals to conduct inquiries on his behalf to negotiate deals for the Senate appointment, affirmatively setting into action a plot to trade the Senate appointment for something of value to the governor.''" 

, a Democratic representative also on the committee, also spoke, saying that "it’s our duty to clean up this mess and stop the freak show that has become government in Illinois. I believe we’re finally doing what we should have done a long time ago."

If Blagojevich's impeachment is ratified by the State Senate, he would immediately be removed from the office of governor and the state's Lieutenant Governor, , would become the state's acting governor.