Congressional remap process begins
Tuesday, Oct 12, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz…
What’s known for sure is that three-person panels—comprised of aides to House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, Senate President Don Harmon and Gov. J.B. Pritkzer—have been meeting separately in recent days with every Democratic member of the state’s congressional delegation to see what they want out of decennial reapportionment.
Sources who know say those meetings have been strictly one-way, with the congressmen talking but getting no answers as to what to expect. Members have been told only the General Assembly likely will adopt a new map in its fall veto session, which begins next week, on Oct. 19, and lasts six days over two weeks.
In other words, the members’ proposals are “under review.”
* Meanwhile, US Rep. LaHood talked about the remap process and opposes federal intervention, of course…
18th District Congressman Darin LaHood still doesn’t know what his new district will look like, however, he’s not in favor of the federal government intervening with the redistricting process. […]
LaHood says despite the frustration with the process Illinois Democrats are using to determine the deficits, he does not want to see the federal government intervene.
“Because we don’t want to federalize our elections across all 50 states. The unique thing in our system is every state ought to decide where its lines are drawn. But there’s a better way of doing it, and again having non-politicians do this is currently being done in a number of other states and it’s a trend now.
There is I guess a presumption that we could pass a federal law that says every state could use an independent commission, but I don’t think the votes of support are there to do that. But clearly, this is in my view undemocratic, it’s not healthy for democracy and I think it leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.”
Hmm…
The Republican-led Texas Senate has passed a 38-district congressional map that shores up GOP incumbents and draws 25 districts in which Donald Trump would have defeated Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Trump won Texas by 5.6 percentage points.
* “We’re totally transparent, but I, as chairman, don’t know who’s drawing the maps.” Hilarious…
Republicans still call the process a “dog and pony show” if Democrats block people from participating. They also stressed the online mapmaking portal is “pointless” if people can’t log in to use it.
Yet, Committee Chair Omar Aquino (D-Chicago) stressed this is a transparent process.
“I do believe that in practice it has worked. Doors have been open, zooms have been open,” Aquino said. “Our ears have been open. We’ve had a number of folks that have participated in this process without fail.”
Aquino said his caucus posts all the proposed maps and written testimony from advocates on the Senate Democrat’s redistricting website and the state legislative website.
Republican members of the committee want to know who is drawing the congressional map. However, Aquino claims he doesn’t know.
* Capitol News Illinois…
Ryan Tolley, policy director for the advocacy group CHANGE Illinois, urged the House Redistricting Committee to listen to community groups and afford them more opportunity than they had during the legislative redistricting process to review any proposed new maps before they are voted on.
“I had trouble finding one group that participated in the legislative remap hearings that publicly endorsed the legislative maps. But there are a lot that rejected those maps,” Tolley said. “And I just want us to think about how can we have a map that reflects the interest of communities if almost every group that tries to engage with this process says their voices were ignored and their communities were harmed. Their efforts really should not be in vain.”
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Oct 12, 21 @ 1:05 pm:
=== “Because we don’t want to federalize our elections across all 50 states. The unique thing in our system is every state ought to decide where its lines are drawn. But there’s a better way of doing it, and again having non-politicians do this is currently being done in a number of other states and it’s a trend now. …”===
To the post and the above;
Is LaHood in favor of whatever anyone at any given time calls “fair” in map making?
If there was a unified and uniformed way for districts and voting and all under what could be a voting protection umbrella, you’d *think* that’d be a welcomed plan.
It’s almost as though LaHood is saying “the process, here and there, is good as long as a fair shake is given for Republicans to gerrymander as much as Democrats”?
- Norseman - Tuesday, Oct 12, 21 @ 1:28 pm:
And away we go.
- anon2 - Tuesday, Oct 12, 21 @ 2:14 pm:
LaHood knows the freedom to gerrymander is a net national benefit for his party, despite the negative impact here.
- anon2 - Tuesday, Oct 12, 21 @ 2:15 pm:
In addition, GOP gerrymandering in the majority of states that gerrymander will likely mean LaHood will be in the majority in the next Congress.
- ANNON'IN - Tuesday, Oct 12, 21 @ 3:24 pm:
“His district”
Lahoud has been Trump bootlick for most last 4 years during cover up. Perhaps he could search in TX
- Nick - Tuesday, Oct 12, 21 @ 5:13 pm:
14-3 here we come
- Al - Tuesday, Oct 12, 21 @ 6:21 pm:
Dear Nick, I am calling it 13 blue 4 red. The new blue maps will make it interesting, but I think team Red will be surer of foot in their execution.
Note: Red is capitalized as it is not being used to describe a color as an adjective, but as a noun to name the team. I mention this as I understand a lot of people did not have the advantage of a public school education like me, so their understanding of grammar is that of a ten year old in fifth grade.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Oct 12, 21 @ 6:36 pm:
=== think team Red will be surer of foot in their execution.===
What do you even base this on?
The state party infrastructure?
Abortion?
- Lake Villa Township - Tuesday, Oct 12, 21 @ 6:45 pm:
I hope my township stays whole in a single district, I suspect it will be the 10th but I am fine with any one. In the state house map there is a small enclave here named Venetian Village that despite only having 1000 people in it is cracked into the 61st, 62nd, and 64th house districts.
- JS Mill - Wednesday, Oct 13, 21 @ 8:08 am:
=is that of a ten year old in fifth grade.=
States a ten-year-old.
- Bad Goya Vitch - Wednesday, Oct 13, 21 @ 8:24 am:
Nick, which four are Red? 12th, 15th, 16th and which, 13th or 17th?
- NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham - Wednesday, Oct 13, 21 @ 9:04 am:
I still think either LaHood or Kinzinger will be lumped into the Bustos seat by default, and keep the 17th (or a new 16th if Kinzinger gets the Bustos seat) a blue-leaning seat.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Oct 13, 21 @ 9:11 am:
=== LaHood or Kinzinger will be lumped into the Bustos seat by default===
Kinzinger’s seat should be blue, Bustos’ seat should be red, Davis is as likely to be lumped in with LaHood as with Mary Miller. The campaign money saved by this in useless primary and general elections for both parties would help them equally.
Davis is not scared of Mary Miller “just because”. A downstate red seat is leaving.
- Bad Goy Evich - Wednesday, Oct 13, 21 @ 10:43 am:
OW, there is no Kinzinger seat that can be blue. Old IL-16 is the one being parceled out to make sure the others have adequate population. LaHood’s district might be called IL-16, though.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Oct 13, 21 @ 10:54 am:
=== there is no Kinzinger seat that can be blue. ===
It can be drawn blue.
Downstate population loss makes Mary Miller *OR* Rodney Davis seatless. The Dems are not going to draw one less blue seat.
Anything else.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Oct 13, 21 @ 10:57 am:
Making the Bustos seat red covers a great many sins, and keeps the “division” of the state in red and blue easy to see.
Swap Bustos and Kinzinger, draw out the red downstate seat… work the Chicagoland seats to meet VRA parameters and be blue.
I have no idea how it will play out in the end, but reinventing the wheel, ignoring the challenges Bustos had last time, saving cash by flipping Kinzinger blue in the Chicagoland market…
We will soon see.