|
PRITZKER
AGAIN BREAKS VETO PROMISE, SIGNS GERRYMANDERED CONGRESSIONAL MAPS
Illinois Policy Institute/
Patrick Andriesen
With districts that snake and twist across
the state, gerrymandering remains a hallmark of Illinois politics
despite Pritzker’s pledge to veto such maps.
|
|
 Gov. J.B Pritzker signed a new
congressional map designed by Democrats in the state legislature to send 14
Democrats to Washington after the mid-term elections.
Experts indicate the remap aims to create a new Democratic district in Illinois
while dissolving two GOP districts, following the state’s loss of a
congressional seat because of population decline reported in the 2020 Census.
Illinois now sends 13 Democrats and five Republicans to the U.S. House of
Representatives. The exclusively Democrat-designed map looks to bolster
candidates’ chances at reelection moving into 2022 primaries and protect the
slim national Democratic majority in the U.S. House.
The map would see two pairs of incumbent Republican candidates compete after
being drawn into the same districts as well as one pair of Democratic candidates
face off. It would also create three new open-seat districts in the state,
including a new Latino district.
[to top of second column] |
Members of Congress do not have to live in the
district they represent.
Pritzker had repeatedly promised to veto partisan
maps, even campaigning on amending Illinois’ constitution to create
an independent commission responsible for drawing state legislative
maps.
But Pritzker reneged on his promise and signed a gerrymandered state
legislature remap, which was ruled unconstitutional for violating
the state’s “equal protection” clause. The same legislative map
passed by Pritzker received an F grade from the Princeton
Gerrymandering Project’s Redistricting Report Card.
Pritzker has stopped promising a non-partisan redistricting process
to Illinoisans. He was expected to sign the gerrymandered
congressional map, an action he justified Nov. 23 by saying the
“maps align with the landmark Voting Rights Act and will ensure all
communities are equitably represented in our congressional
delegation.”
Legal challenges are expected. |
