Lake County Gazette

State Sen. Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry) is no fan of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s decision to sign off on Democratic lawmakers' latest map redistricting plan.  

“One thing has become clear throughout the remapping process this year, Gov. Pritzker and his allies have no interest in doing what is best for the people of Illinois,” Wilcox said in a press release. “By signing yet another gerrymandered map, he shows us all that power and control are what’s most important to him.”

As the two sides go back and forth over the new redistricting plan, a three-judge federal court panel was set to begin hearing oral arguments over its legality on Dec. 7 in the McConchie v. Illinois State Board of Elections case. As part of their filing, plaintiffs argue that Pritzker and Democrats violated the U.S. Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 with their handling of the situation.

Joining the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) as plaintiffs are Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich) and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Burr Ridge), with each insisting the maps approved by Pritzker serve to underrepresent minority groups by reducing the number of districts where Latinos make up a majority of the voting age population.

More recently, Illinois Republicans were asked to file their proposed remedy with the court, with their remedial maps being championed as fixing the flaws by creating more districts with minority voting-age populations above 50 percent.

With the New York Times blasting Democrats’ maps as “among the most gerrymandered in the country,” Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) has called on Pritzker to support the Fair Maps amendment, which calls for a non-partisan group to draw the legislative maps in the state.

“A healthy democracy requires competitive elections and new ideas, which is in the people’s best interest,” Brady said in a news release. “Our current system, which gives the party in power ultimate authority to redraw legislative maps, inhibits that. As a result, I am calling on the Illinois Senate President to ensure this measure gets called for a vote, and for the Governor to follow through with his pledge to support fair maps in Illinois. We need to take the power of drawing legislative maps away from politicians and put it in the hands of the people.”