* Earlier this year Hannah Meisel noted this in a story about a lawsuit filed against the legislative redistricting plan passed in May…

Of the four districts identified in the lawsuit, three of them saw minor adjustments to their proposed borders under the new district maps Democrats published Monday, compared with the maps passed in May. That includes the 1st House District, which State Rep. Aarón Ortiz (D-Chicago) has represented since 2019 and will continue to represent under the new map, despite the changed territory.

The slight change to the first district does not affect its neighbor to the south, the 22nd House District, represented by freshman State Rep. Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar (D-Chicago). Guerrero-Cuellar, who was appointed to the House seat vacated by longtime former House Speaker Mike Madigan in February, recently filed an unusual motion in the MALDEF suit asking to be added to the list of defendants, along with Democratic leaders.

In the filing, Guerrero-Cuellar said she was asking the court on behalf of her constituents as she wanted to prevent any sort of settlement of surrounding districts that may affect her own. According to internal data, the new 22nd District’s population is nearly 63% voting age residents of Hispanic origin — the third-most largest share in the new proposed map.

“The Representative of the 22nd District has a significant interest in maintaining the current configuration of the map to protect her constituents’ rights to a fair and reasonable opportunity to elect candidates of their choice and avoid dilution of Latino/a/x votes,” Guerrero-Cuellar’s attorneys wrote.

Guerrero-Cuellar is represented in the matter by the Del Galdo Law Group, whose namesake Michael Del Galdo has long been close with Madigan.

* As we’ve discussed, Rep. Guerrero-Cuellar along with help from 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn attempted to round up enough votes to stop the congressional remap bill from passing. It didn’t work, but she complained during debate about how her own House district was drawn…

The lone Democratic “no” vote came from Rep. Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar, who was appointed to the 22nd state legislative district in Chicago to replace former House Speaker Michael Madigan, who resigned earlier this year.

Guerrero-Cuellar said on the floor that she remained upset about how the 22nd District was reshaped during the legislative redistricting process in August.

“And there was something done to that district intentionally to exclude Latinos and that representation,” she said. “So when someone tells me, ‘Hey, we’re here to represent the Latinos on the southwest side,’ I’m gonna say, hold on. That was not the case.”

…Adding… I mean, AGC voted twice for this district, so I’m not quite sure what her beef is…

Here's what former House Speaker Mike Madigan's 22nd House District (now repped by @RepAGC) looked like under the 2011 maps vs what it looks like under the 2021 remap (both what passed in May and August. Also the same in other draft maps I can find, though can't access them all). https://t.co/6bhHQWM4jE pic.twitter.com/EaR9YrjliD

— Hannah Meisel (@hannahmeisel) November 3, 2021

* The map passed in May was tossed out, but a new one was drawn and then signed into law in September. Rep. Guerrero-Cuellar has now filed another motion to intervene…

A Democratic member of the Illinois House has filed a motion in federal court to intervene as a separate defendant in a pair of lawsuits challenging the legislative redistricting plan that was signed into law in September.

Rep. Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar, who represents the largely Latino 22nd District on Chicago’s southwest side, is arguing that the composition of her district, and therefore her chances of reelection, could hang in the balance if the court decides to alter the map. […]

“The [Republican lawsuit] explicitly proposes a revised September map that cuts through the 22nd District,” the motion states, referring to one alternative map portrayed in the GOP complaint.

The motion also states that Guerrero-Cuellar has a right to intervene, “to protect her right to reelection.”

She also claims in the filing that her interests “are not adequately represented” by the other defendants.

Man. The lengths these folks will go to protect the sacred boundaries of the 22nd House District is quite something to behold.

I mean, I get it that over the decades they have put a whole lot of time and effort into constituent services and developing relationships with the residents (which produce major benefits come election time). It’s the same argument used by Ald. Quinn with legislators last week against the bill which divided his ward into two congressional districts. It’s just that… wow.

…Adding… Remember this from September?…

A Hispanic candidate who lost a 2016 House Democratic primary to then-Speaker Michael Madigan is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on a case that alleges Madigan planted two sham candidates with Hispanic-sounding names on the ballot to confuse voters and ensure his victory.

In an appeal to the high court filed Thursday, Jason Gonzales argues that lower court judges incorrectly tossed the matter on grounds that voters knew about the alleged sham candidates from pre-primary publicity and Madigan still won with 65% of the vote.

I’ve been meaning to tell you that the United States Supreme Court refused to take Gonzales’ appeal this week. He doesn’t give up easily, either.