* Gov. Pritzker was asked today whether Illinois should redraw its congressional districts now that Texas is planning to redraw its own districts to reduce the number of Democratic congresscritters…
We have to see what they decide to do about Texas. But I think that the President of the United States encouraging Texas, Texas being willing to do this, should be an indicator to the rest of us that that if they’re going to cheat, that that’s not a proper way to act.
We’re all going to have to band together to try to address that, at least to try to stop them, by letting them know that if we were doing what they were doing, that in fact, we would counterbalance, indeed take control of the Congress.
I think we ought to play by the rules. Everybody. And I think we ought to have an election in 2026, we’ll see who comes out ahead in the Congress. But I think cheating the way the President wants to is improper. We all ought to stand up against it. People ought to be outraged.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
…Adding… Leader McCombie…
In response to Governor JB Pritzker’s comments today regarding potential mid-decade redistricting, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie released the following statement:
“It’s rich that the Governor now claims to support playing by the rules—after he enthusiastically signed into law the most gerrymandered maps in the nation. When it was convenient, he promised to reject partisan maps in favor of fair representation. Illinois Republicans remain committed to fairness and transparency.”
* He was also asked about the Cook County Democratic Party deciding not to slate anyone for US Senate, even though the lt. governor is one of the candidates…
Look, it’s rare. They have three, you know, reasonably well known candidates who are running for a big office like United States Senate, I think the Cook County Democratic Party rightly recognized that there are these are all significant players, all three of them. So I mean, personally, I understand why they ended up where they are. I know that Juliana Stratton was the leader among the three of them. But when you don’t get the endorsement, you don’t get the endorsement. So, but from my perspective, she has support from all across the state and all across Cook County. So I feel confident on her behalf that she’ll do well in the primary.
* Pritzker was also asked if the state would opt into a new federal tax credit for private school students…
We’ve got to look at [that]. Remember, Donald Trump is trying to take away funding from public schools, right? He has shut down funding to the states for public schools, and we’ve had to sue to try to get back. So this idea that he’s for education, and that’s why he pushed having this provision in the bill is just false narrative. So we’re going to have to look at whether or not we can implement a program that will be good for all students and all families that have students in school, and not just a program that’s about private schools, sometimes religious schools, and sometimes schools that would reject having an LGBTQ member as a teacher, whether we should be supporting a program that just does that, when, in fact, the federal administration is taking away money from people who can’t afford to go to a… private school, who would like to go to a public school that’s a quality school, but they’re having their funding taken away. That doesn’t seem fair to me.
- hisgirlfriday - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 2:38 pm:
I would be against Illinois going after a 15-2 map when we already have a 14-3 map if it was just a response to Texas.
But now I see there is talk about Republicans going to redistrict several states beyond Texas including doing so just to eliminate one Dem seat in Missouri and I kinda feel like all bets are off.
- WhiteHat76 - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 2:42 pm:
JB better sharpen his answer on the federal tax credit question.. remember this costs the state nothing and instead would mean IL misses out when other states do not
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 2:54 pm:
Let Texas go ahead and redistrict. They’ll end up turning deep red seats into pink or even purple seats just in time for what could be a historic Democratic year.
- Johnny B - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 2:55 pm:
jB can also sharpen his answer on the outrage over redrawing districts to reduce the number of congressmen from the opposition party
Illinois congressional maps are rated F
https://gerrymander.princeton.edu/redistricting-report-card/
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 2:58 pm:
=remember this costs the state nothing and instead would mean IL misses out when other states do not=
Wrong. Money is already being diverted away from public schools in the form of Title funding and SNAP funding for meals for low income students.
When repeating a political talking point make sure it is at least correct.
- Sue - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 3:05 pm:
JB will have a bigger problem shortly- one fewer congressional seats- maybe he should have foregone the Madigan gerrymander if he wanted to play by the rules
- Google Is Your Friend - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 3:14 pm:
- Johnny B - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 2:55 pm:
Better double check Texas before your next hit and run
- Frida's Boss - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 3:20 pm:
Did Stratton get the majority of votes of the three as JB says?
Rich, you reported she had 14 votes out of 81 the other day. Was neither Raja nor Robin able to get 18% of the vote? If I’m reading correctly, that means that over half of the voters in the slating didn’t vote. That’s ridiculous, then, to even tout the number of votes as a win.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 3:23 pm:
===Did Stratton get the majority of votes of the three as JB says?===
Try a reading comprehension course.
- Candy Dogood - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 3:55 pm:
The current situation with our federal government is unprecedented. The right wing understands that they have democracy in this country by the throat and they are planning their killing moves they are at least polite enough to let us know about some of these moves in advance.
I don’t think the Governor has a playbook for the situation, but here’s hoping.
===So I feel confident on her behalf that she’ll do well in the primary.===
His answer didn’t sound all that confident. I hope that at least one or two of these campaigns revisit their current strategy of running on blandness and make some changes on how they make their bid for public office.
I’d be demoralized if I were staff on one of those three senate campaigns that are contributing nothing to the public discourse, nothing to the policy discussion, and nothing to the dreams of what this country can be. So far there’s a lot of room for a candidate that seeks to inspire and seeks to connect to primary voters by being a vessel for their hopes for the future.
- Really? - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 4:00 pm:
It is not often that Leader McCombie is spot on - outrage over the rigging of Legislative maps is a subject matter Illinois Democrats would be well advised to sit out.
- old guy - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 4:13 pm:
Gerrymandering should be unconstitutional and prohibited…but one cannot disarm unilaterally.
- Norseman - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 4:33 pm:
LOL, Leader McCombie. Your party has been engaged in a concentrated effort to subvert election over the last 10 years. Abolishing bipartisan election authorities, enacting laws that seek to restrict voting by traditional Dem constituency groups. Constantly filing suits to throughout entire voting results in Dem areas. Yes, IL gerrymandered, to do otherwise in the face of wholescale gerrymandering and voter suppression in red states basically guarantees Leader McCombie’s party achieve its authoritarian goal. At least IL’s map includes minority representation, that’s not a concern in TX or red states in general.
- Norseman - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 4:36 pm:
Bravo JB, you’re right on the school credit issue. Public school funding is under MAGA attack.
- Map Games - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 5:15 pm:
It is only Texas that gerrymanders.
I remember Nancy Pelosi urging Illinois Democrats to go all in on a remap to assure a Democratic Congressional majority once upon a time.
When the Republicans managed to secure a 12-7 majority under a Democrat map in 2010. Under the next map, the Dems gained 5 chairs and knocked off 4 incumbents.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 5:24 pm:
===It is only Texas that gerrymanders===
Literally nobody said that, but you do you.
- Just Me 2 - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 7:50 pm:
This is further proof that the redistricting process in our country is corrupt, and I am amazed SCOTUS can’t see that. The addition of advanced computerized mapping software has turned this country into a farce.
And both parties do it, although the national and Texas GOP is setting a new standard for corruption.
- Capcitynewt - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 9:17 pm:
Remember when JB vowed to veto unfair maps?
- Dirty Red - Tuesday, Jul 22, 25 @ 9:25 pm:
= We have to see what they decide to do about Texas. =
No. The answer to this question is, “No.”
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jul 23, 25 @ 12:04 am:
===Remember when JB vowed to veto unfair maps? ===
State maps. He wasn’t asked about congressional maps. I know this because I’m the one who asked the question.