Latest news with #PrincetonGerrymanderingProject
Chicago Tribune
07-08-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Rhonda Belford: Democrats can't fight for democracy in Texas while undermining it in Illinois
Gov. JB Pritzker is once again talking about gerrymandering — just not in Illinois. This week, he welcomed Texas Democratic legislators to Oakwood, Illinois, to denounce Republican redistricting efforts in that state. But while Pritzker lectures red states about fairness, he continues to ignore the glaring problems in his own backyard. Don't forget that in 2021, Pritzker signed one of the most blatantly and aggressively gerrymandered congressional maps in the country, drawn and passed by his own party. The map created districts with lines that make my grandchildren's scribblings look like Pablo Picasso's. That map gave Democrats a clear advantage in 14 of Illinois' 17 congressional districts and earned an 'F' for fairness from the nonpartisan Princeton Gerrymandering Project. The maps weren't an accident. They deliberately cut out two Republican-leaning seats and helped lock in Democratic control. It's a stark contrast from when Pritzker was on the campaign trail. He promised to veto any map that was 'in any way drafted or created by legislators, political party leaders and/or their staffs or allies.' Pritzker campaigned with a message of hope and fairness and moving past Democrats' history of corruption. Then, at his first opportunity, Pritzker broke that promise without hesitation. 'Fairness' wasn't on Illinois Democrats' minds. Now, as he positions himself to run for president, Pritzker is outraged. While standing on his giant soapbox and projecting his moral authority, he floated the idea of redrawing even more favorable maps in Illinois. That's not democratic leadership; it's partisan gamesmanship. Let that sink in: The same man who signed, supported and pushed one of the worst partisan gerrymanders in the nation is now upset that other states are following his lead. Instead of looking in the mirror or pushing for national changes, Pritzker responds by threatening additional partisan moves that will continue to divide our state. Illinois families deserve better. They deserve fair representation, not districts drawn in backrooms to silence opposition and insulate power. When maps are rigged to favor one party, voters lose faith in our elections and our country's founding principles. The truth is, with Democratic supermajorities in Springfield, there's no one who can force Illinois Democrats to do the right thing and clean up partisan games — they need to do it themselves. If Pritzker truly wants to lead on voting rights and gerrymandering, he should start by honoring the promise he made to Illinois voters: to support an independent redistricting commission and end partisan gerrymandering in our state. Until then, his speeches about fairness will continue to ring hollow. You can't fight for democracy in Texas while undermining it in Illinois. Editorial: Illinois Supreme Court, it's time — finally — to act on gerrymanderingThe phrase 'fix your own house before criticizing your neighbor' has never been more apt. And until Pritzker refuses to rein in Illinois' partisan splintering map, his lectures about Texas ring hollow. Gerrymandering matters, and both Republicans and Democrats should do their part in making sure that there is a system that doesn't play political games. But our country won't learn how to draw better maps from the man who inked Illinois' most gerrymandered script. Before our governor lectures Texas on fairness, he should take a long, hard look at his own record — and start living up to the promises he made to the people of Illinois.
Saudi Gazette
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Democrats flee Texas to block Republican redistricting map backed by Trump
WASHINGTON — Democratic state lawmakers have fled Texas in a bid to stop a vote on a new congressional map that would heavily favour Republicans. The redistricting, unveiled by Texas' majority Republicans last week and backed by President Donald Trump, would create five new Republican-leaning seats in the US House of Representatives. Two-thirds of the 150-member Texas legislature must be present in order to hold a vote. Fifty-one Democratic lawmakers have fled, most of them to Illinois, denying Republicans the required quorum. They said they plan to stay away for two weeks until the end of a special legislative session convened by Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott. The session is being held to approve the redistricting, as well as provide disaster relief for last month's deadly Texas floods and to ban THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Each of the 51 lawmakers could face a $500 (£380) fine for every day they are away, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, has threatened to have them said on X the state should "use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law"."Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately," he a statement, Texas Democrats defended the move."We're not walking out on our responsibilities," said state legislator and chairman of the Democratic caucus Gene Wu."We're walking out on a rigged system that refuses to listen to the people we represent."While Democrats nationwide have threatened tit-for-tat tactics, their options may be states where they handle the redistricting process, such as Illinois, New Mexico and Nevada, Democrats have already gerrymandered just as eagerly as most recent Illinois map, for example, received an F grade from the Princeton Gerrymandering Project because it was rated so politically in other Democratic-controlled states, such as New York, California, Colorado and Washington, redistricting is handled by non-partisan, independent commissions, rather than the state Republicans currently hold 25 out of 38 congressional seats in the Lone Star hope the new maps could increase that number to 30 - all in constituencies that Trump won last November by at least 10 of next year's midterm elections, Texas' redistricting could help pad the slender Republican majority in the US House, where Trump's party currently has 219 of 435 seats, while Democrats hold new map would include a redistricting of the Rio Grande Valley and combine two districts in the state capital of Austin currently held by northern Texas, the map would expand a district currently held by Democratic congresswoman Julie Johnson to include rural Republican would also redraw four Houston-area seats, including one held by Democratic congressman Al state legislator Todd Hunter, a Republican who sponsored the measure to redraw the map, called it "a good plan for Texas".This is the third time in the past few years that Democrats have fled Texas to deny Republicans a party's legislators took off for to Washington DC in 2021 in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to block the passage of new election Democrats also left for Oklahoma in 2003 in a bid to stop redistricting that Republicans eventually managed to get typically undergo redistricting every 10 years, when voting maps are redrawn to account for population most recent US Census was in 2020. Redrawing district lines in the middle of a decade is unusual. — BBC
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House Republicans ask state Supreme Court to toss out legislative map
SPRINGFIELD — Democrats continue to hold a supermajority in the Illinois House thanks to illegally gerrymandered House districts, House Republicans allege in a new lawsuit filed with the Illinois Supreme Court Tuesday. The lawsuit alleges the current House map fails to meet state constitutional requirements that districts be compact and allow elections to be 'free and equal.' The outcome is elections that are 'rigged' to favor Democratic candidates. Republicans want the court to invalidate the maps and appoint a special master to draw new district boundaries. Republicans are targeting this lawsuit to state courts after previously failing to block the maps in federal court. New data and a key expert witness, they say, make their state case more likely to succeed. 'Illinois House Republicans refuse to stand by while Democrats rig elections and manipulate the system to maintain their grip on power,' House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, said at a news conference Tuesday. The lawsuit comes after House Republicans failed to gain seats in the two election cycles since a new map was drawn in 2021 following the census and implemented for the 2022 election. Republicans lost five seats in 2022 and failed to win any back in 2024, leaving House Democrats with 78 members in the 118-member House. The first question Republicans want the Supreme Court to weigh in on is whether the districts are 'compact.' Compactness is not defined in the state constitution, though dozens of mathematical formulas exist to measure whether the residents in a district are spaced appropriately. Republicans point to the Illinois Supreme Court's decision to invalidate a district in 1981, which found the central Illinois district was not considered compact. Using two mathematical formulas, the lawsuit alleges 52 of the current House districts are less compact based on at least one formula than the unconstitutional 89th House District was in 1981. The 89th House District in that year included several square-shaped sections from Peoria to Springfield. The court ruled it was not compact based on a visual examination. The lawsuit argues existing districts that feature odd shapes snaking around communities or extending away from the heart of a district would fail the same eye test. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which assesses legislative maps around the country on several metrics, gave the current Illinois House map an 'F' grade for its compactness metric. The districts are also politically gerrymandered to elect more Democrats, according to the lawsuit. Republicans argue Rep. Lisa Hernandez, D-Cicero, who chaired the House Redistricting Committee, admitted to partisan gerrymandering during a floor debate in August 2021 when she was asked by then-Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Morrisonville, whether 'partisan advantage' was considered in drawing the map. 'It is one of the factors included,' Hernandez said at the time. The court filing also points to testimony in previous challenges to the maps in which a House Democratic staff member acknowledges lawmakers considered creating political advantages in certain districts as they discussed how to draw the map. As part of their case, House Republicans enlisted the help of national redistricting expert Jowei Chen, from the University of Michigan. Chen has served as an expert witness on similar lawsuits in other states. House Republicans said Chen ran 10,000 computer simulations on different map outcomes at their request, with the only requirement being that the maps were compliant with the federal Voting Rights Act. None of the simulations produced a map similar to the current House map. 'That outcome is only possible with partisan gerrymandering designed to disenfranchise voters,' Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, said in an interview. The current 78-40 split between Democrats and Republicans isn't proportional to ballots cast in recent elections, the GOP argues. The 78-40 split would make sense in a world where Republicans were receiving roughly 40% of votes cast in a general election. But in 2022, Republicans received 51% of votes case in House races, and the party should expect to receive 47-48% of the votes cast in House races in a normal election year, per the simulation. Thus, the GOP believes they'd have a larger share of House seats if maps were drawn fairly. 'We're not supposed to be depriving voters of their individual vote,' Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, said in an interview. 'It's supposed to have the same meaning as every other voter in the state, and when you do that on a partisan basis, it always skews that one individual's vote.' The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, using a different methodology, gave Illinois' House map an 'A' grade for partisan fairness, meaning the current map doesn't give an advantage to either party. The filing notes courts in North Carolina and Pennsylvania have previously stuck down maps based on similar accusations and language in those states' constitutions similar to Illinois'. Republicans hope the Illinois Supreme Court will agree the maps are unfair and force new House maps to be redrawn by an independent commission that would not consider partisan benefits. The lawsuit focuses on the House maps, but a favorable ruling for Republicans could be extended to Senate maps, as each Senate district is comprised of two House districts. 'I have high hopes for the court in doing the right thing,' Spain said. 'I think the compactness claim is a slam dunk. They've already ruled on that one before.' 'Leader McCombie can't justify her party leader's unlawful attempt to slash services working families need to access healthcare, afford rent, and put food on the table, so she is choosing to distract people by relitigating a matter that courts decided years ago,' said Jon Maxson, a spokesperson for House Speaker Chris Welch, D-Hillside, in an email. This is not the first time Republicans have asked courts to toss out maps. Republicans and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, sued in the summer of 2021 after the General Assembly passed an initial set of maps using American Community Survey data in order to meet statutory deadlines for redistricting after census data was delayed by the pandemic. Lawmakers returned later that summer to pass the current set of maps based on census data. Republicans and MALDEF sued again to try to stop the maps, arguing the latest version reduced the number of Latino-majority districts in the Chicago area. A separate case was filed by the East St. Louis Branch of the NAACP and other civil rights groups that argued the maps broke up the Metro East's Black voting population. A three-judge panel of federal judges rejected those challenges in December 2021, leaving the current maps in place. Republican lawmakers said their reason for challenging the map wasn't based on whether it would lead to more Republicans winning legislative seats in future elections. Ugaste said he believes an independently drawn map could make his reelection more difficult in his west suburban district. 'I'm willing to do it because that is what is right for the voters. It's not about me hanging on to my seat,' Ugaste said. The plaintiffs also argue it's not too late to challenge the maps, as there are three more elections before the General Assembly is required to redraw the maps after the 2030 Census. Fourteen other states also have pending cases challenging legislative maps. 'Other states continue to work on this; we shouldn't forfeit our ability to do so in Illinois,' Spain said. Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
