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Republicans unveil their own congressional maps

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Illinois

* The state’s Republican Congressional delegation has released its own “fair map” proposal. From a press release…

“The Fair Map filed in federal court today proves that it is possible to create congressional districts that respect both constitutional and democratic principles. More importantly, this map stands in stark contrast to the contorted map passed by the Democrats, which is so gerrymandered that it can have no goal but to maximize partisan advantage by disregarding the will of Illinois voters.

“The Fair Map specifically addresses the problems with the Democrats’ map by providing a second district for the state’s growing Latino population, creating district lines that satisfy the tests for compactness, and protecting communities of interest by keeping them wholly within individual districts.

“We look forward to an impartial hearing in court that exposes the fatal flaws in the Democrats’ Illinois congressional redistricting scheme and recognizes the fact that creating fair, compact, and representative congressional districts is not only possible, but necessary.”

I haven’t checked the Google Earth version as of yet, but the Republicans say they didn’t put any Democrats into the same districts with each other.

* Here are the maps…

* And this is from their fact sheet…

History of the Earmuff

• The Republicans first proposed the “earmuff” (District 4) in 1991. At the time, it was the only way to draw a majority-Latino congressional district.
• At the time, the Democrats proposed a map that did not include a majority Latino district. The Republican map prevailed with a three-judge federal panel endorsing the creation of the first majority Latino district in state history.
• In 1991, the earmuff was 65.0% Latino by total population, 59.2% Latino by voting-age population. For the last 20 years, the earmuff has effectively afforded Latino voters the opportunity to elect the candidate of their choice.

The Democrats’ Proposal
• Latinos have grown to become the largest minority community in both Cook County and statewide. In Cook County, Latinos have grown from 13.6% of population in 1990, to 24.0% in 2010.
• Despite that growth, the Democrats’ Proposal packs Latino voters into a single district. The packed earmuff would be a staggering 71.1% Latino by total population, 65.9% Latino by voting-age population.
• The Democrats’ Proposal dilutes Latino voters in the two neighboring white districts (Districts 3 (Lipinski) and 5 (Quigley)), depriving Latino voters of any chance to elect a second candidate of their choice for at least the next decade.
• The Democrats’ Proposal intentionally discriminates against Latino voters, by drawing district boundaries in Cook County for which race is the predominant factor in a way that is not narrowly tailored to meet any compelling state interest. This violates the “strict scrutiny” constitutional test that federal courts have long used to evaluate governmental actions based on race.

Discuss.

…Adding… Illinois Review asked Congressman Tim Johnson’s office why he was the only Republican who didn’t sign the above letter…

While Congressman Johnson believes the redistricting process leading to this map was unfair and a distortion of the people’s wishes, these challenges have not ever succeeded, so he has decided to devote his energy and resources to his reelection campaign. He hopes that an impartial court will modify the map in a way that will better serve the voters of the state.

…Adding More… Dan Lipinski appears to be the guy who loses his congressional district.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 2:01 pm

Comments

I’m going to try to map out as much of the districts as I can in Dave’s Redistricting App before I leave for the Sox game tonight in order to see the political implications of the “fair” map.

Comment by Ben Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 2:08 pm
lipinski gets whacked for a latino congressman and the rest stays status quo. Sounds good to me.

Comment by shore Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 2:17 pm
Is that Tim “I Pledge to Serve Only Three Terms in Congress” Johnson who is devoting “his energy and resources to his reelection campaign” for a seventh term?

Comment by mr. whipple Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 2:22 pm
Who’s the incumbent who loses a district besides Lipinski? Kinzinger? Shimkus? Costello?

Comment by Ben Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 2:25 pm
I’m having trouble with the Google Earth link. Anybody else?

Comment by RL Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 2:26 pm
P.A.97-14 is just that a law
Looks like too little too late — whadda shame
Did they use their state cash to whip this up?

Comment by CircularFiringSquad Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 2:27 pm
I do think the GOP map is much more contiguous. It also seems to either cut out Tim Johnson or put him in a race with Adam Kinzinger. Gee, I wonder why that could be?! But as I’ve said before, we didn’t win the one race that mattered for the map - the Governor’s race - and it cost us big-time. We’re not going to win such an injunction, but it gives us a good argument/hit piece during next fall’s elections.

Comment by Team Sleep Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 2:30 pm
I don’t think many experts would call 65% Latino VAP staggering, I think they would describe it as adequate.

Comment by Lichtman Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 2:42 pm
RL, right click and download.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 2:45 pm
You just gotta love the Congressional GOPs grasp of the calendar and legislative process. I musta missed the public hearings they had in advance of this map.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 2:49 pm
This lawsuit is a complete waste of money - which favored law firm is being paid for this? Federal Court will not overturn the new maps. Period.

Comment by Nohopeforillinois Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 3:06 pm
46.5% Hispanic VAP. I wonder how many of those are citizens. Is there any number out there about the number of hispanics in Cook that are citizens? Seems like the eligible population in Gutierrez is likely under 40%

Comment by QMap Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 3:19 pm
While not the abomination to 1-man/1-vote the Dem map is, what’s up with that claw-shaped 7th district?

Comment by lake county democrat Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 3:20 pm
In the Republican map Lipinski is put in the same district as Biggert. So that looks like a general electoin incumbent vs incumbent race as a result.

Also in this map Tim Johnson and Kinzinger are in the same district for with a primay between to incumbents as a result.

The map does have two Hispanic seats, one with a super majority and the other with a Hispanic incumbent–Guttierrez. While Guttierrez’s district on this map is not super majority Hispanic, it is super majority Democrat and he is an incumbent. It also has a GROWING Hispanic population with about 47% Hispanic voters now.

So the end result is two races with incumbents, one primary and one general and an extra Hispanic seat if the court goes this way.

Comment by vortex Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 3:35 pm
“Fair Map.” What a joke. A better name would be “Incredibly Disingenuous Map.”

If the GOP had been in control and had the ability to draw maps that mattered, those maps would look much different from those they try to trot out now. But irrelevant people do irrelevant things.

The bozos running the IL GOP need to realize that not everyone in this state is as clueless as they are.

This is all incredibly insulting to the intelligence of ever Illinois citizen. And how much are these dishonest games going to cost us taxpayers?

This is all nearly as ridiculous as GOP officials pretending they care about representation of blacks and hispanics.

Comment by just sayin' Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 3:36 pm
I am not expert on downstate politics but it looks like Springfield, Peoria and Decatur are all in the 18th. Would there be enough African Americans in that district for one to win?

(I also can’t get the Google Earth version to open so I can’t necessaritly back up what I am saying).

Comment by Been There Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 3:39 pm
Just Sayin’ -

This isn’t the ILGOP’s doing. This is the Congressional Delegation’s initiative. Of course, that’s not to say that Pat Brady doesn’t support the suit, but it’s the GOP Congressional members and Senator Kirk who are pushing this.

Comment by Team Sleep Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 3:52 pm
Is Bob Dold still drawn out of his district in the R map, it looks like he might be?

Comment by J Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 4:33 pm
“We’re not going to win such an injunction, but it gives us a good argument/hit piece during next fall’s elections.”

Team Sleep-

You think this makes for a good mail piece? You’re not going to find my swing voters who care about the re-map. Any candidate who wastes money to blast Democrats on the re-map process instead of a tax increase is an idiot.

Comment by Little Lebowski Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 4:47 pm
J - Thursday - Yes, Dold would be out of the 10th.

Comment by RL Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 5:30 pm
Been There,

Actually it looks like Springfield may still be split into multiple districts under the Fair Map: parts of the north and east sides of Springfield appear to be in the 18th while the south and west sides are in the 17th (but I don’t have Google Map so I don’t know where in the city the division occurs–I am particularly curious about where downtown Springfield would fall in the Fair Map scenario).

Comment by Leatherneck Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 5:50 pm
Team Sleep, I’m using “IL GOP” in the general sense. It is the IL GOP and there is an equally frivolous federal lawsuit that’s been filed re the state legislative map. More sour grapes.

For crying out loud, it’s hardly some secret these desperate lawsuits are the sole focus for the Illinois Republican Party right now. And yes, the congress critters are part of that.

Something to occupy themselves until the next huge embarrassing disaster in November next year. Also a pretext to fundraise from gullible GOP money types.

Comment by just sayin' Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 6:26 pm
The District 6 map will engender further litigation, a copyright violation suit by Pacman.

Comment by Bigtwich Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 6:26 pm
Would be a tragedy if the GOP was unsuccessful in making it easier for a deadbeat dad like Joe Walsh to stay in Congress.

Definitely the kind of litigation we want to keep our courts tied up on.

Comment by too obvious Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 8:33 pm
==You just gotta love the Congressional GOPs grasp of the calendar and legislative process. I musta missed the public hearings they had in advance of this map.==

They have a fine grasp. They would not have introduced this map at a time when it could actually become law. It’s a lovely map, but not one they would have supported in May.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Thursday, Aug 4, 11 @ 10:55 pm
Interesting strategy. Barring a change in the Constitution, I’d advise for 2021 saving my lawsuit money and investing in actually winning a majority in a house of the GA or the governorship.

But I’m sure the GOP bigfoot lawyers cashing the map checks are cool. They’re part of the problem in the Illinois GOP.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Aug 5, 11 @ 12:12 am