By Peter Hancock
Democratic Party leaders in the General Assembly released a second draft of proposed congressional district maps over the weekend as they prepare to enter the final three days of their fall veto session.
Similar to the first set of maps that were released October 15, the latest draft would create a number of oddly-shaped districts that are meant to favor Democratic candidates going into the 2022 midterm elections.
They would create a second coalition district in the Chicago area, defined in the Illinois Voting Rights Act as “a district where more than one group of racial minorities or language minorities may form a coalition to elect the candidate of the coalition’s choice.”
“These new proposed congressional boundaries are historic and reflect the great diversity present throughout the state,” said Rep. Lisa Hernandez, D-Cicero, who is the chairperson of the House Redistricting Committee. “The proposal ensures minorities, as well as the rest of Illinoisans, have an equitable voice in representation in Washington.”
The Illinois congressional delegation is currently divided between 13 Democrats and five Republicans, but the State is losing one of its districts next year due to its loss of population since the 2010 census.
An analysis by the political website FiveThirtyEight estimates the maps would create 13 Democratic-leaning districts, three Republican-leaning districts and one highly competitive district, the 17th District, represented by Democrat Cheeri Bustos, of Moline, who has announced she will not seek reelection next year.
Republican representatives Mike Bost, of Murphysboro, and Mary Miller, of Oakland, would be placed in a single southern Illinois District.
The map would put Republican representatives Darin LaHood, of Peoria, and Adam Kinzinger, of Channahon, into a reshaped 16th District that would stretch from the Bloomington-Normal area all the way to the Wisconsin border and encircle Rockford.
Meanwhile, Republican Rodney Davis, of Taylorville, would be placed in a reshaped 15th District that includes his hometown, snakes east around the city of Champaign, then curves back west to take in much of west-central Illinois, from an area just north of St. Louis to an area just south of the Quad Cities.
The plan would create a new 13th District that would stretch from Belleville and East St. Louis about 170 miles along a narrow stretch that extends to Springfield, Decatur and Champaign. That district currently has no incumbent, but FiveThirtyEight estimates it would lean Democratic by about 7 percentage points.
Republican leaders in the General Assembly did not immediately comment on the latest proposal, which is still subject to amendment before lawmakers vote on a new plan, presumably later this week.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
— Capitol News Illinois