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Land doesn’t vote, and these new Illinois maps help illustrate that fact
Monday, Aug 18, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * We’ve all seen this type of goofy ploy…  * Some standard retorts…   * At my behest, a friend crafted this one using AI: “Non-Contiguous Cartogram by Population (2020) Areas scaled to share of state population; county shapes preserved; adjacency not preserved”…  Click the pic for a higher resolution version. Same goes for this next one: “Illinois County Dorling Cartogram (Population, 2020 Census)”…  * And the pièce de résistance: “Illinois Counties - Contiguous Population Cartogram (2024 presidential winners)”…  Feel free to use them.
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- H-W - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:00 am:
Thanks. The third and fourth seem very intuitive and easy to understand.
- TJ - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:06 am:
As usual, the GOP strategy is the play to the lowest common denominator in terms of nonsense rather than actually trying to make a point. The only thing surprising about her tweet was that she didn’t toss in a dog whistle for good measure, too.
- NIU Grad - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:06 am:
That “pièce de résistance” graphic is going to give me nightmares for a while.
- LP-Dad - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:13 am:
Texas Dems are returning to the longhorn state in another misstep for Pritzker and co.
Eagerly awaiting the linked article and your thoughts.
- Homebody - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:15 am:
Generally speaking, and I mean this fairly seriously: to be a conservative basically requires you to either (1) not understand how anything works or (2) understand how things work, but lie to the people in category 1 to rile them up to get them to vote.
- Stephenson County - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:16 am:
I think we need an IQ test for people running for congress. Mary Miller would fail miserably.
- Amalia - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:17 am:
the last one..but but all together the red is bigger, say the fools
- Irma Gerd - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:19 am:
Reader added context to the tweet sums it up nicely:
The blue area to the northeast is the Chicago metropolitan area, whose population is about 9.5 million people.
The population of the entire state of IL is about 12.5 million people, which means the blue area contains approximately 3/4 of the state’s population.
- low level - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:29 am:
You could also do the amount of taxes paid, value of property, life span and more and graph it with similar results.
Mary Miller doesnt seem to understand there are more people in most Chicago neighborhoods than several downstate counties put together.
Thats the truth my friend.
- Downstate - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:31 am:
Do you think Pritzker’s “kindergartners” comment will come back to hurt him? It was a flippant response, but I’m not sure that helped make his case on the matter.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:32 am:
===Mary Miller doesnt seem to understand===
She’s not a stupid person.
- TJ - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:34 am:
== She’s not a stupid person. ==
To be fair, sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s an act and what’s actually for real anymore. I would agree with you that Miller’s acting here, but someone like Boebert I’d totally see them thinking they were making a really good point, for instance.
- So_Ill - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:38 am:
==She’s not a stupid person.==
If been in a few meetings with her, and I would absolutely dispute this.
- illinifan - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:41 am:
The data is always interesting and both parties know how to use it selectively to convey their message. The key for the voter is to ask the right questions to understand what is underneath the data used for the message. The voter who fails to ask the questions and get the answer is the bigger problem. Politicians are always going to spin.
- low level - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:42 am:
== Do you think Pritzker’s “kindergartners” comment will come back to hurt him? ==
No. If the IL GOP was moderate and effective as it was 30+ years ago then yes but it is no longer functioning as it once did.
- Telly - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:47 am:
One of my favorite facts to illustrate this point is that almost 80 percent of Illinois’ 102 counties are smaller than a single Chicago ward.
- Skeptic - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:50 am:
“Mary Miller would fail miserably.” Whether that’s true or not doesn’t matter when she runs unopposed.
- Morty - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:53 am:
If we could gerrymander MM out of existence I’d regard that as a huge win for Illinois.
- Candy Dogood - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:59 am:
I am disappointed that anyone would think that Mary Miller isn’t intentionally spreading misinformation and trying to undermine our Democracy.
She knows how many people live in her district and she knows it is about the same as every other congressional district in the state.
- Yooper in Diaspora - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:07 pm:
To Skeptic: Mary Miller will have a Democratic opponent. So I assume you mean she doesn’t have an opponent in the Republican primary.
- Juice - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:07 pm:
Adding to Telly, but like 12 of those 20 counties larger than a Chicago ward voted for Harris.
I’m also not going to claim that our maps are not gerrymandered. But the fact of the matter is that the residents of cities like Peoria, the Quad Cities and Rockford probably have many more similar needs for their communities when compared to Chillicothe, Geneseo or Pecatonica. And since we no longer have 19/20 Congressional districts, grouping cities like that (as well as Springfield, Decatur, Champaign) is probably the only way that the interests of those mid-size urban areas in our state would ever get meaningful representation in Congress.
- I-55 Fanatic - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:11 pm:
==The voter who fails to ask the questions and get the answer is the bigger problem.==
I heartily disagree with this sentiment. I think it’s pretty bad when sitting members of Congress deliberately spread misleading information. Politicians can’t get away with something just because voters don’t bother to ask questions about it.
- low level - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:23 pm:
== grouping cities like that (as well as Springfield, Decatur, Champaign) is probably the only way that the interests of those mid-size urban areas in our state would ever get meaningful representation in Congress.==
Excellent point. I never thought of it like that. Thank you.
- Horace - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:32 pm:
Put another way, “people live in cities.”
- Loyal Virus - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:42 pm:
NIU Grad- they all gave me acid flashbacks for sure, esp the last one.
- ChicagoVinny - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:45 pm:
Given today’s GOP seems to be fully onboard with having a king, it’s not entirely surprising for them to have feudal notions of power going with land rather than people.
- JS Mill - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:46 pm:
=Mary Miller doesnt seem to understand there are more people in most Chicago neighborhoods than several downstate counties put together.=
Oak Park born and Naperville Central grad Mary Miller?
She knows. She is just trying to find something to get a rise out of her local constituents. Nothing more.
- Skeptic - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:02 pm:
“Mary Miller will have a Democratic opponent.” Good, because she didn’t in 2024. She had a token opponent in 2022, but he didn’t get much (if any) support from the party.
- Cool Papa Bell - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:12 pm:
The 7 seven smallest counties in Illinois combine to have about the same amount of people that live in 1 ward in Chicago.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:15 pm:
===but he didn’t get much (if any) support from the party===
Trump won that district last year by 35 points.
- walker - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:24 pm:
JS Mill
is.right as usual
- Michael McLean - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:34 pm:
I love me a good cartogram
- Steve Rogers - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:50 pm:
Interestingly, Mary Miller’s map looks to be by township, rather than county, which sort of supports the opposite of what she is suggesting. All the of urban spots are blue, while rural is red. Urban population > rural population. Simple math, but I agree she’s not dumb, she does know where her bread is buttered, and that butter is a deep shade of orange.
- Skeptic - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:54 pm:
===but he didn’t get much (if any) support from the party===
=Trump won that district last year by 35 points. =
I get that, and I understand the Dems don’t want to throw money down a hole. But at the same time you can’t say “Mary Miller bad” wring your hands and hope it gets better (not referring to you, Rich.) Maybe there’s enough non-Trump R’s (especially ones who wouldn’t vote for Harris) plus D’s to agree on someone else. To paraphrase Wayne Gretzke, you lose 100% of the elections where you don’t run a candidate.
- low level - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:54 pm:
New Illinoisi at its finest. Does Miller support them seceding or does she realize NE Illinois is supporting the red parts?
- Downstate - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 2:08 pm:
Candidly, I think the gerrymandering issue by Illinois D’s is a bit of a distraction.
Do we seriously think that having an all D delegation in DC will dramatically alter the trajectory of the debt, out-migration, and educational challenges that face the state and the City of Chicago?
After all, our congressional delegation isn’t preventing Chicago from enacting a head tax to garner more revenue, or Illinois schools from improving test scores. And I don’t think people are moving out of state because they are frustrated that we still have 3 republican representatives.
Just sayin.
- thechampaignlife - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 2:44 pm:
===Maybe there’s enough non-Trump R’s…plus D’s to agree on someone else===
Those Ds would need to pull an R ballot in the primary. We need 65k of Ds, Is, and non-Trump Rs to vote for the most conservative anti-MAGA candidate that can be found. And the state Ds need to fund that candidate to the max to primary Miller. It may be counterintuitive for Ds to swallow their pride and support a strong conservative R, but it is best for the country which means it is the best for the Ds as well.
- Gruntled University Employee - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 2:45 pm:
== Maybe there’s enough non-Trump R’s (especially ones who wouldn’t vote for Harris) plus D’s to agree on someone else.==
I live 15 miles from Mary Miller and no, there aren’t.
- low level - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 2:54 pm:
==our congressional delegation isn’t preventing Chicago from enacting a head tax to garner more revenue==
Maybe if we were able to keep more of our money instead of sending it downstate we wouldnt need to raise revenue?
- Boone's is Back - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 3:01 pm:
The last one looks like it is screaming “it’s not a tumor!”
- Sir Reel - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 3:05 pm:
Mary Miller is my congressperson. Please pray for me.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 3:07 pm:
===Those Ds would need to pull an R ballot in the primary. We need 65k of Ds, Is, and non-Trump Rs===
lol
259 people took Democratic ballots in that entire district last year.
259.
Y’all need to stop this nuttiness.
- Frida's Boss - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 3:23 pm:
That last chart/graph is 100% fire LOL
- Downstate - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 3:24 pm:
If you don’t live in Mary Miller’s district, any fixation on her is analogous to me decrying the policies of Chuy Garcia. I align with few if any of his positions. As a result, I spend little if any time worrying about him being in Congress.
- Downstate - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 3:33 pm:
Are Pritzker and Newsome engaging in “one-upmanship” to their own detriment?
They’ve both vowed to consider gerrymandering to counter efforts of Texas Republicans. And while that will play well to the presidential primary voters, it can come off as “reactionary” to the independents in the general election.
But now that JB and Gavin have thrown down the gauntlet, not following through carries another set of risks.
There’s a possibility that they’ve both, voluntarily, stepped into an issue they’d probably prefer not to carry long term.
- Jibba - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 4:08 pm:
IL-13 has been mentioned specifically in several recent WaPo articles as an extreme example of gerrymandering. But as pointed out by commenters, grouping like-minded cities together to achieve representation is a sensible thing to do, especially when the GOP would dilute them out of existence in their own gerrymander.
- low level - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 4:27 pm:
==I align with few if any of his positions. As a result, I spend little if any time worrying about him being in Congress.==
Right. Just earlier in the thread you were focusing on the fiscal policies of the City of Chicago.
- low level - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 4:30 pm:
As they used to say on the Boers and Bernstein show on 670 the Score, who you crapppin, Downstate?
- Excitable Boy - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 4:30 pm:
- 259 people took Democratic ballots in that entire district last year. -
It’s amazing to me that I know for certain at least 4% - 5% of that total.
- Downstate - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 4:32 pm:
“grouping like-minded cities together to achieve representation is a sensible thing to do”
I’m not sure that logic explains 1, 9, 11, 16, and 17. But I’m admittedly not as well versed on the similarities between the communities in those “spider-like” districts.
- Excitable Boy - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 4:32 pm:
- If you don’t live in Mary Miller’s district, any fixation on her is analogous to me decrying the policies of Chuy Garcia. -
That’s an odd thing to say, since members of Congress decide issues on a nation wide basis.
- Juice - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 4:52 pm:
Rich, I do not disagree with your broader point.
But the 259 is how many votes there were for the candidate (who I think was a write-in?). You have to pull the excel file to see how many dem ballots were pulled. And that number is 22,894, with most of those being under-votes/blank ballots.
- Skeptic - Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 5:08 pm:
“I live 15 miles from Mary Miller” Keep in mind her district runs well west of Springfield.
“259 people took Democratic ballots in that entire district last year.” There’s no point in pulling a ballot if there’s no one to vote for.
I’ll concede we’re stuck with her, but it is frustrating