* From WalletHub…

Hi Rich,

With Black History Month and the South Carolina primaries taking place in February, the personal finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2016’s States with the Highest Political Engagement Among Blacks.

To determine where black Americans are most engaged in the political process, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 48 states across six key metrics. They include black voter turnout and registration during the most recent midterm and presidential elections as well as the proportional representation of blacks in the state legislature and national party conventions.

Political Engagement of Blacks in Illinois (1=Most Politically Engaged; 24=Avg.)

4th – Black Voter Turnout (2012 Presidential Election)
17th – Black Voter Turnout (2014 Midterm Elections)
7th – Black Voter Registration (2012 Presidential Election)
31st – Black Voter Registration (2014 Midterm Elections)
1st – Proportional Representation of Blacks in State Legislature

For the full report, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/where-are-blacks-most-least-politically-engaged/19026/

Look at that horrible number for 2014 voter registration. Pat Quinn’s campaign depended on a heavy African-American turnout, which didn’t happen, and high voter registration, which also didn’t happen. It was a complete failure.

* That last number is pretty interesting to me. I’ve been told by African-American legislators that their counterparts in other states are often amazed at how many black people are in the Illinois General Assembly. It’s one reason why some African-American leaders here are skeptical of the remap reformers’ intentions. They have built something that no one else has matched, and they don’t want it taken away.

…Adding… Speaking of which…

With 11 weeks remaining in the petition drive for redistricting reform, the Independent Maps coalition has exceeded the 507,500 petition signatures collected in the 2014 effort and is on target to reach the new coalition’s goal of 600,000 signatures.

“Support for the Independent Map Amendment has been phenomenal,” said Dennis FitzSimons, Chair of Independent Maps. “We’ve collected 510,000 signatures so far and will turn in many more signatures than the previous campaign, which fell short of the number needed to qualify for the ballot. We’re confident our petition signatures – well in excess of the required 290,216 signatures – will withstand challenges by opponents of reform.”