Illinois Republicans ask state Supreme Court to toss ‘gerrymandered’ legislative map

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This article was published 28/01/2025 (312 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Republican leader of the Illinois House and five voters on Tuesday filed a lawsuit asking the state Supreme Court to throw out the legislative district map as unconstitutionally drawn to favor Democrats.

The lawsuit over the 2021 plan challenges the compactness of the districts, which snake among one another in odd ways that drew less-than-flattering critiques nationally at the time and the state constitution’s protections ensuring “free and equal” elections.

“Drawn by the party in power, these maps are designed to entrench Illinois Democrats in control while silencing the voices of voters who support the minority party,” McCombie, a Republican from the Mississippi River city of Savanna, said. “The result? Rigged outcomes in general elections.”

Mapmaking in Illinois is a process that invariably becomes deadlocked and the name of the party chosen to draw the map is pulled from a hat. It’s gone to Democrats after the U.S. Census the last three decades.

Nearly 600,000 voters signed petitions in 2016 for a ballot initiative to put mapmaking into the hands of an independent commission, but the state Supreme Court ruled the plan unconstitutional. GOP Rep. Ryan Spain on Tuesday introduced a constitutional amendment creating for a nonpartisan commission to take up mapmaking.

Democrats currently control two-thirds of all seats in the Illinois General Assembly — 78 of 118 in the House and 40 of 59 in the Senate. Among the congressional delegation, the GOP is outnumbered 14 to three, with Democrats holding both U.S. Senate posts.

The complaint, filed by McCombie and five voters from districts they consider extremely gerrymandered, asks the Supreme Court to appoint a special master to draft a new map.

Democrats have a 5-2 majority on the high court, but the Republicans believe justices will take on the complaint and render a fair hearing.

Rep. Dan Ugaste, a Republican from the Chicago suburb of Geneva and a longtime proponent of election reform, said he hopes changes occur before the 2026 candidate petition period begins in December.

Ugaste noted that in 2022 Democratic legislative candidates won 50% of all votes cast statewide, but took 66% of seats. And in districts packed with voters from either party, there often is no competition.

“The volume of uncontested races means that almost half of the state representatives will represent Illinoisans not because they were elected and had to present their policy ideas to voters, but only because they submitted the right paperwork to the state Board of Elections,” Ugaste said.

Asked whether Republicans would hold majorities in the General Assembly under an independently drawn map, Spain said it’s possible.

“But that’s not really the point. Even if there was no change to the partisan allocation here in the Illinois House, things are not working,” Spain said. “We are not empowering voters to, make decisions on what their government should look like and how it works. So something has to change.”