Lake County Gazette

Veteran state Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) can see how Gov. J.B. Pritzker may be digging his own grave come 2022.

“Rarely do politicians get the chance to break a campaign promise twice,” McConchie recently posted on Twitter. ““The governor has now twice chosen to actively betray the people he said he was elected to protect. This choice again proves he is more concerned with protecting the political elite than the people of Illinois.”

Pritzker signed off on revised legislative maps that were first passed in August despite GOP lawmakers and advocacy groups alike urging him to take a different course.

“I am deeply disappointed that Gov. Pritzker has turned his back on the many minority organizations that have asked him to protect their voting rights outlined in the constitution and Voting Rights Act by vetoing this gerrymandered map,” McConchie added.

CHANGE Illinois issued a statement claiming the maps dilute minority voting power.

“Many major groups agree the new maps reduce the numbers of majority Black voting age population districts and majority Latino voting age population districts,” the statement added. “The Latino Policy Forum asked Pritzker to veto the maps for the same reason.”

With a June 30 state constitution deadline looming, lawmakers initially adopted maps during the spring legislative session. Spearheaded by Democrats, the plan unfolded despite lawmakers not yet having U.S. Census Bureau data typically relied on for drawing districts.

Pritzker’s latest actions come after Democrats called a special session to adjust the maps after official population numbers ultimately showed the variances between districts were far outside what is allowed under U.S. constitutional law. The matter is now before the courts with Republicans arguing that the job of map redistricting should be left to a bipartisan commission.