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Today’s quotable

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“Redistricting reform is absolutely essential to good government because it’s the voters who should be choosing legislators, not Speaker (MICHAEL) MADIGAN and the politicians he controls,” said Rauner spokeswoman CATHERINE KELLY via email. “The current process gives too much control to career politicians who are more concerned with protecting the political class than hard working families.”

Chicago Democrat Madigan is not only speaker of the House but also chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois.

The response to Kelly? “They’re tipping their hand because this looks like it’s being motivated as a way for millionaires to drop more robots into the legislature,” Madigan spokesman STEVE BROWN said.

The Democrats are whistling past their own potential political graveyards here.

As I’ve said before, if Gov. Rauner is reelected, the Republicans will likely have a 50-50 chance of drawing the new map. And if the Independent Maps amendment gets on the ballot, the Democrats would be stuck with a process which protects the “geographic integrity of units of local government.” That could easily be interpreted as not backfilling a DuPage County district with Democratic-friendly Cook County turf, etc.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 11:51 am

Comments

How wildly out of relative population could that local government provision of “fair maps” make districts? Is one person, one vote in jeopardy? The federal courts would have something to say.

Comment by Precinct Captain Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 12:03 pm
Steve Brown warning about air dropped “robots”, in the General Assembly, that’s rich.

Comment by So.... Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 12:08 pm
It’s funny they blame Madigan because Cullerton drew the districts. Nevertheless this issue has huge implications for 2018.

If Rauner accomplishes little or nothing in four years he runs on the ground that he will blame it on districts drawn by Chicago Democrats (or Mike Madigan Team Rauner’s favorite punching bag). The governor in 2018 will have the authority to draw the districts. And he will vow to draw fair districts or assign the process to an independent commission.

If the Dems don’t get ahead of this, Rauner has a good chance of winning in 2018 with nothing to hold his hat on through his first term.

At this point you have to think Rauner is begging for Lisa Madigan to run to blast this issue and make it a huge campaign issue.

Comment by Almost the Weekend Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 12:09 pm
Glad to see rauner is taking time out of his crisis management to worry about his re-election

Comment by Ferris Wheel Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 12:11 pm
I’m not against redistricting reform, I just don’t have expectations that it would change the composition of the GA.

Didn’t do anything to resurrect the GOP in California.

Ck, you don’t have to empty the bag-o-phrases into every paragraph. They lose meaning when employed every time in all contexts.

Comment by Wordslinger Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 12:11 pm
team Rauner better start to worry about November 16 elections before he looks to 2018.. A Trump/Kirk top of the ticket could be a disaster

Comment by Not Rich Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 12:19 pm
=== I’m not against redistricting reform, I just don’t have expectations that it would change the composition of the GA.

Didn’t do anything to resurrect the GOP in California. ===

Word, I think your general point about the measure not changing the party in the majority is Rich’s point as to why the Dems should embrace this reform instead of fighting it.

Comment by Norseman Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 12:40 pm
This wouldn’t have been an issue if Madigan didn’t obviously overplay his power with the current process. Even his loyalists can’t defend what we have right now.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 12:45 pm
They’re tipping their hand because this looks like it’s being motivated as a way for millionaires to drop more robots into the legislature,” Madigan spokesman STEVE BROWN said.–

Madigan/Brown is against robots as he prefers to have ducklings. Also, a fair map making process will give primary voters more control and thus leading to less robots and ducklings, which is what the democrats fear. I’m sure they would rather have a 50/50 chance at stacking the deck instead of having fair and open elections.

Comment by Ahoy! Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 1:30 pm
we won under their map. Whistling all day long. Fair map in this state? Be real.

Comment by Tom Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 1:35 pm
Almost

Not sure I understand what you mean by “The governor in 2018 will have the authority to draw the districts.” Redistricting is treated like legislation under Illinois law. All that Rauner can do is veto a map. If the map doesn’t clear both houses, it goes to a commission comprised of 4 tops appointees. If they can’t agree on a map, the S. Ct. then picks 2 people (1 dem, 1 gop) and whichever of the 2 wins a coinflip by the Sec. of State breaks the tie. Other than veto power, the govenor has no direct say in redistricting.

Comment by tominchicago Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 2:52 pm
Ever look at the map of the districts Rauner won? Illinois was just as red as Texas except for the districts in and around Chicago

Comment by Shoedoctor Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 2:58 pm
===Other than veto power, the govenor has no direct say in redistricting. ===

Constitutionally, yes. But have you not noticed how the legislative Republicans bow down to him?

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 3:08 pm
Well I did say “direct” say. His post suggested that Rauner would unilaterally draw the map. If Madigan and Cullerton don’t lose any seats (big if of course) they can override the veto but even if the map goes to the commission Rauner only has a 50% chance to “draw the districts.”

Comment by tominchicago Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 3:16 pm
Almost the Weekend - you clearly have zero clue how the map process works. Cullerton did not draw the lines, it is a large and complicated consensus process. And exactly how do you figure that it’s settled that the Governor will have the authority to draw the map? Like Rich said, it’s 50-50 at best. And no, he is not eager to run against Lisa Madigan. Borrow a dollar and get a clue

Comment by horse w/ no name Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 3:20 pm
“The Democrats are whistling past their own potential political graveyards here.”

There is no doubt the issue of a “Fair” map polls well but I’m not sold that this is as dire in the minds of voters as you think, Rich.

Comment by horse w/ no name Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 3:24 pm
Shoedoctor: Do you really think that Rauner takes Sangamon County next time?

Comment by tominchicago Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 3:30 pm
How can you be sure the so called “independent map company” is truly independent of political influence? Rauner has the money to influence any new map.

Comment by Mama Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 3:57 pm
===not Speaker (MICHAEL) MADIGAN and the politicians he controls===

Tell that to Madigan-backed Sam Rosenberg from the 103rd last year.

To the post, I do not see the urgency here. Could the Dems not wait until 2019 to address this, knowing who is governor then? That would put it on the ballot in 2020 in time for redistricting in 2021, wouldn’t it?

Comment by thechampaignlife Tuesday, Jul 7, 15 @ 10:32 pm