Chambana Sun

State Democrats are pushing forward in their efforts to redistrict the state's legislative districts, despite Gov. J.B. Pritzker's pledge to prevent a politician-made map and widespread Republican preference for an independent remapping committee. 

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Decatur) could lose his seat if the Democratic remapping is completed. WGN News reported on April 12 that Davis said "Democrats are going to play politics with redistricting."

"[Democrats] can't help themselves," Davis said. In the same WGN video, state Sen. Dan McConchie said that the process needs to be done "constitutionally and in a bipartisan manner."

According to WGN news, Democrats say Davis' district is at risk of going away because of the state's population loss.

Chicago Business reported that 2020 polls have shown that over three-quarters of the state's voters support the idea of an independent group of citizens deciding how the borders should fall in Illinois' legislative map. State Republicans advocate for the Fair Map Bill, which would place the remapping duty in the hands of an independent committee of Illinois citizens. 

Pritzker promised during his campaign that he would veto an unfair map proposal for this decade's redistricting. However, WCIA News reported on April 12 that the governor signaled his support of the new maps drawn by Democrats before the Illinois census data was fully available; the news station called this change of heart "the biggest flip-flop of [Pritzker's] political career."

Republicans are calling for the governor to stick to his original pledge to veto a map drawn by legislators as Democrats continue to storm forward with committee meetings and hearings to complete the redistricting. 

Under current state law, the legislature has until June 30 to draw and approve a new map. If the task isn't complete by then, the responsibility is handed to an independent remapping commission that consists of four Republicans and four Democrats. In the WGN report a spokesperson for House Speaker Emanuel Welch said that the Speaker "has every intention" of meeting the June 30 deadline. 

"When asked, Illinoisians overwhelmingly favor an independent redistricting solution over the current hyper-partisan, power play process currently in place," said political columnist Marko Zukovic in an April 5 article on Medium. "Realizing this, certain high-profile Illinois Democrats, running in relatively competitive districts, have made public proclamations voicing their support for redistricting reform that puts an end to partisan gerrymandering and maps drawn with the sole purpose of protecting incumbents."