* Politico…

Republican legislative candidates are coming forward “at a much higher rate” than they did for the 2018 election, a signal that the Illinois GOP is working to make good on a promise to fill every slot on the 2022 ballot.

“I attribute [the uptick] to people understanding the opportunity that we have this cycle and the issues that we’ll run against Democrats,” Jayme Odom, the executive director of the Illinois House Republicans, told Playbook. She says those issues include Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s “overreach” by not working with the legislature to enact Covid-19 mitigation rules, passage of police-reform legislation, and signing a law that decriminalizes possession of certain amounts of fentanyl and cocaine.

On the state Senate side, “More Republicans in the Cook County region are interested in running for state office than I’ve seen before,” says Senate GOP Political Director Nick McNeely.

There’s no litmus test for running, but the House Republican organization is asking whether candidates believe the 2020 election was stolen. “We’re looking for people who are interested in running and who fit the constituency of their district,” said Odom.

The obvious follow-up would be what they’ll do with potential candidates who believe the Big Lie. I’m assuming the House Republicans are weeding out the dead-enders (particularly in the suburbs, where that would be a killer issue), but I wasn’t able to get that confirmed.

* On to redistricting. An Illinois angle in the Guardian…

The first time Kim Brace drew electoral district maps for the state of Illinois, more than 40 years ago, things moved slowly.

He and his colleagues hung maps of the state on the walls in the office of the speaker of the state house of representatives. Someone would climb a ladder, moving different blocks of people into different districts while another took notes below. In the evenings, they would go to the largest bank in Springfield and use a mainframe computer to generate a daily report. Over the course of the four-month legislative session, Brace was able to draw about 10 possibilities for electoral maps.

Ten years later, in the 1990 redistricting cycle, Brace, the president of Election Data Services, a redistricting consulting firm, was back at the drawing board. But this time, he and his colleagues didn’t have to draw on walls. They rigged up two personal computers – one couldn’t handle all the data they needed – with rudimentary mapping software. They drew about 100 potential maps.

By 2000, Brace was able to draw about 1,000 plans. In 2010, the last time he drew maps, he was able to produce 10,000 possible maps. “It lets you see and imagine different alternatives,” Brace said. “It gives me that capability of understanding the parameters and playing field that I’m playing in.”

* Greg Hinz…

Is the South Side lakefront headed toward the same type of revival that has lifted the North Side in recent decades and made neighborhoods such as Lincoln Park, Lake View, Roscoe Village and North Center among the most desirable in the city?

The answer may well be yes, suggests some very solid new data emerging from the 2020 Census.

The phenomenon is in its early stages and is coming from a small base. But it appears real and is backed up by other data. If it continues, it suggests that despite all of Chicago’s other problems, a portion of the city that is heavily Black is making major strides to move up the economic scale.

The data is the first actual population count by community area in the city. It comes from demographer and consultant Frank Calabrese, who developed it while working on upcoming ward reapportionment for the City Council’s Latino Caucus.

* More…

* ‘Illinois Is Absolutely Pivotal’ To Who Controls The U.S. House