Lake County Gazette

Amid growing scrutiny over Illinois' contentious redistricting process, State Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) has called out former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Democrats, questioning their stance on the state's allegedly radical gerrymandering.

McConchie's remarks follow a scathing report by anti-gerrymandering group Common Cause, which awarded Illinois the lowest grade, an "F," for its redistricting efforts.

The report highlighted a lack of public participation, legal challenges and intentional division of Black voters to protect white Democratic incumbents.

Common Cause emphasized the need for increased public engagement to ensure fair representation, citing Illinois as a concerning example of partisan redistricting.

“Where does @EricHolder stand on the radical gerrymander drawn by Gov. Pritzker and Illinois Dems?” McConchie said on X.

“The hypocrisy from Holder and Democrats on political gerrymandering is laughable.”

“Anti-gerrymandering group: IL worst in nation for political redistricting.”

According to Center Square, a new report by anti-gerrymandering group Common Cause has designated Illinois as the worst state in the U.S. for its redistricting process, assigning it an "F" grade.

The assessment underscores a lack of public participation hindering the development of political maps representative of the state's demographics.

Illinois faced legal challenges, with one lawsuit alleging that Black voters were intentionally divided into three separate House districts in the Metro East area, protecting white Democratic incumbents.

Common Cause's report examined each state's redistricting at both state and local levels, emphasizing the need for increased public engagement to foster fair representation.

The report notes, "Illinois represents a nearly perfect model for everything that can go wrong with redistricting.”

The group said the state engages in a hyper-partisan redistricting effort.

“Illinois legislators used the redistricting process this cycle to protect a Democratic supermajority in the legislature and squeeze one additional Democratic congressional district out of the map despite the state’s loss of one U.S. House seat post-census,” Common Cause said in its report.

“Reformers have attempted to put ballot initiatives creating independent citizen redistricting commissions in front of the voters twice in the last decade. Both times, Democratic political leaders won favorable rulings from the Democratic majority on the Illinois Supreme Court. The court struck the measures due to their assignment of responsibilities to the attorney general and other executive branch officials.”

As a result of decadeslong firm hold on the redistricting process, the latest General Assembly set a record for the highest number of seats occupied by Democrats with 77 when members were sworn in earlier this year.

The state's Senate President, Don Harmon, also secured a supermajority for Democrats.

McConchie was outspoken at the time.

“Unfortunately, the Democrats’ rigged system, which created some of the most gerrymandered districts we’ve ever seen, disproportionately benefits them and leaves thousands across the state without a real voice in their elections,” McConchie told WCIA.