* If you need a good backgrounder on this topic before reading further, click here for Rick Pearson’s strong story.

OK, let’s start with WMBD…

State Republicans urged Governor J.B. Pritzker on Monday to veto redistricting maps drawn by lawmakers.

Some lawmakers said redistricting needs to be a fair and non-partisan process led by people- not politicians.

“I think the public is demanding an open and transparent process. Many of our colleagues including Governor Pritzker have said in their own words that they would like an open and transparent process,” said U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL).

Davis said more than 500,000 people in Illinois supported a ballot question for an independent redistricting commission. Davis said it didn’t make the ballot and says people want a process where politicians can’t pick their own voters.

Can’t dispute any of that.

* Again, no dispute here…

The idea of an independent redistricting commission has enjoyed bipartisan support in the past. In fact, Monday’s news conference featured a large poster board with a quote from then-candidate JB Pritzker, who said during the 2018 campaign, “We should amend the constitution to create an independent commission to redraw legislative maps, but in the meantime, I would urge Democrats and Republicans to agree to an independent commission to handle creating a new legislative map.”

Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Morrisonville, urged Pritzker to support the GOP plan.

“While the context may have changed, when he was asked that question, it was assumed that Mike Madigan would be drawing the maps,” she said. “His pledge has not and cannot change.”

* But, c’mon, Tim…

“We’ve got fewer Republican congressmen than we had a decade ago and two decades ago,” [Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield] said, “and that’s all because of the fact that they use political data to slice and dice these districts for political gain.”

Republicans, including Rodney Davis, now hold two Downstate seats that were drawn for Democrats (Mike Bost is the other) and they came awfully close to picking up a third (Cheri Bustos) last year. But there’s also been a sea change at the suburban level because of the GOP’s national bent. If you had boldly predicted ten years ago that a liberal Black woman would win the exurban 14th District, you might have been laughed out of the state.

* Also…

“The Latino population in Illinois is actually higher than African American population, but that’s not represented in the Illinois General Assembly,” Butler said. “It’s not.”

Hispanic voters make up more than 11% of the state’s voting age population, according to an independent analysis of Illinois’ district maps and demographics. However, Latino elected officials make up just seven percent of the state legislature, and just one of Illinois’ 18 members of Congress. […]

“Should we draw another Hispanic congressional district? Absolutely,” Davis said. “That’s something that these mapmakers ought to take into consideration.”

Butler is a well-informed legislator, so he knows that Latino voter turnout still badly lags. But, they have steadily made gains over the years, picking up seats that were once held by whites (including former Republican Sen. Jim Oberweis’ seat and via an appointment to former Speaker Madigan’s seat, to name two of the most recent). Even so, this remap will undoubtedly be important to solidify Latino population gains. And it doesn’t hurt the Republicans that Democrats will have to put one of their white Chicago-area incumbents on the hot seat to make that happen.

* SJ-R…

Butler also mentioned how Springfield’s Black population must be well represented by new maps.

“We have a very vibrant and engaged African American community here in Springfield, but unfortunately have not had a representative here in Springfield until Sen. Doris Turner was appointed … and that’s largely because the county has been divided up,” Butler said.

Um, no. The House Democrats had a perfect opportunity to elect a Black candidate 9 years ago and decided to back Sue Scherer instead. That district was created by combining Black Springfield precincts with similar precincts in Decatur. It was the only way to get it done. But the HDems took the safe way out.

* WGN…

There is speculation Democrats will erase GOP Congressman Rodney Davis’ 13th district. Davis said Democrats have long targeted his seat.

Democrats are going to play politics with redistricting, they can’t help themselves.

Republicans are pushing a bill that would give ordinary Illinoisans the power to draws the maps. Under the plan, the Supreme Court would appoint citizens to a redistricting commission.

I kinda got the feeling that Congressman Davis was using yesterday’s presser to warn Democrats about messing with his seat, which is kinda the opposite of a blind and fair mapmaking process.

* Meanwhile, here’s a Daily Herald editorial…

Without question, the Illinois General Assembly is in a bit of a bind as a constitutionally imposed June 30 deadline looms for approving new legislative and congressional boundaries.

Because of delays caused by the pandemic, the U.S. Census Bureau has not provided population data for states to use in drawing required new maps — and the bureau doesn’t expect to have the data until the end of September. By that time, potential candidates for statewide and county offices will have barely two months to solicit signatures on petitions to qualify for seats, so leaders have justified concerns to put boundary lines in place as soon as possible. […]

The anti-gerrymandering watchdog group RepresentUs says Illinois’ one-party dominance in both legislative chambers and the governor’s office puts it among 25 states at extreme risk of letting political power rather than objective review of population data determine the boundaries that will shape the state’s legislative and congressional boundaries for the next decade.

Legislative leaders say they’re driven by the desire to meet the constitutional deadline. If they miss it, instead of having boundaries that reflect input from the public and all 177 lawmakers in the House and Senate, the redistricting process will move to a commission of just eight members, whose work, if ultimately deadlocked, will be decided by a one-person appointed tiebreaker. Clearly, that alternative, too, is objectionable. But these are not the map makers’ only options.

The National Conference of State Legislatures has taken note of the problem in states like Illinois and offers suggested actions states can pursue, including appealing to the courts to permit a delay in creating the boundaries.

From that Represent.US report on Illinois…

Democrats hold the governorship and have strong majorities in both legislative chambers. This allows the party to have total power over how to draw the maps, creating clear risk of partisan bias. There’s less of a chance of manipulation if the redistricting commission is tasked with drawing the maps, which could be a real possibility considering the Census delays.

The first part is accurate. The second part is wildly false. Whenever the redistricting commission has been activated, it’s always ended up in a very partisan outcome because the two sides haven’t been able to come to an agreement, preferring to take their chances with a lottery.

From the NCSL…

1. Ask courts for relief.

Redistricters can petition the appropriate state court to seek relief from their statutory or constitutional redistricting deadlines. For example, California successfully pursued this option in mid-2020.

The California legislature successfully petitioned its Supreme Court to delay its constitutional filing deadlines. It doesn’t work that way in Illinois.

* Related…

* Census Delay Complicates Once-a-Decade Redistricting Duty