Lake County Gazette

Lake County's Rod Drobinski, the Republican contender for state House in District 62, recently spoke out regarding the rank-and-file Democratic response to the failure of the Independent Maps Amendment.

"Many rank-and-file Democrats insist they support a remap amendment," Drobinski quoted from a Chicago Tribune editorial on his Facebook page. "But they say nothing when their own leaders block the effort to get it done. They do not challenge [House Speaker Mike] Madigan (D-Chicago) or [Senate President John] Cullerton (D-Chicago). They do not protest. They do not demand a vote on the floor. They do not confront. They shrug their shoulders, change the subject."

Despite garnering nearly 600,000 signatures and being approved by the State Elections Board, the citizen-initiated Independent Maps Amendment was blocked from the November ballot on Aug. 25. It faced a court challenge brought by the People's Map group and Michael Kaspar. After the Cook County Circuit Court declared the amendment unconstitutional, supporters took it to the state Supreme Court. The higher court upheld the lower court ruling.

The Illinois Republican Party laid the blame on Madigan, who chairs the Illinois Democratic Party. Kaspar serves as the general counsel for the state Democratic Party.

Drobinski said that while some Democratic lawmakers paid lip service to the remap amendment, when it was challenged in court they didn't confront their party leaders in support of the constituents. Instead, silence filled the floor.