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Harmon wants “strong say” by people in remap process, but disses constitutional commission as “more partisan”

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Illinois

* Senate President Don Harmon has a Sun-Times op-ed that begins with a story about how Oak Park was sliced into 6 different legislative districts until 20 years ago, when he and others pushed hard to get most of the town into one district, which he now represents. Here’s his conclusion…

Though this year presents unique challenges, from navigating public meetings during a global pandemic to delays in data from the U.S Census Bureau, we will not shy away from our constitutional duty to ensure that communities receive fair and equal representation. Black, Latinx, Asian and other minority communities have been marginalized and silenced for far too long, left to pay the ultimate price.

We must also embrace the wide geographic diversity of our state, unified by the richness wrought from our varied experiences.

We are dedicated to fulfilling our responsibility to approve a new map through a system that gives the people of Illinois a strong say in the process. Failure to meet deadlines would upend the democratic process and turn map-making over to a small commission of appointed political insiders and, as history has shown, ultimately yield a more partisan result. That would be a disservice to our citizens and counter to everyone’s stated goals.

As I recall my fight to win fair representation for Oak Park all those years ago, I can think of no more frustrating outcome than to have the will of my community ignored in favor of backroom political deals. But that is what is at stake for communities across Illinois if legislators do not forge ahead in a deliberate manner, placing people ahead of politics.

We must not let history repeat itself. We must make room at the table.

Notice that giving people “a strong say in the process” is not the same as forbidding politicians from drawing their own maps and choosing their own voters. And that’s some pretty interesting spin on the process of turning this over to a bipartisan commission with a partisan tiebreaker.

They could easily pass a law setting up an independent map-making process. Or just do it unilaterally. But they won’t. And that means a showdown is coming with the governor.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 12:32 pm

Comments

Pritzker should roll over on this one. It would be an easy give to a legislature that he needs to mend some fences with. Plus there’s no need for this Democratic state to unilaterally disarm on mapmaking when no Republican-controlled state has any intention of doing so.

Comment by Quibbler Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 12:37 pm
The Gov’s team should already be figuring out how to message whatever comes out of the GA as fair. If they don’t and stick to their guns, another big L may be coming…

Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 12:37 pm
The governor really could be a fly in the ointment, as he lost the Senate President race and the state party chairmanship.

The governor runs statewide, can easily fund a quarter of a (with a B) billion dollar race, all for himself… why make Harmon’s life easier?

Stick to his promise, even leave Harmon and others out to dry, kinda bad.

Really a nice position for the governor.

Plus, anything on the governing side, the signature to bills, that Pritzker will like as a governor going forward re-elect, Harmon and his will like those bills signed too.

What leverage exactly does Harmon have but this posturing?

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 12:42 pm
There will not be a showdown with this governor. He will sign whatever they sent him and call it fair. Mr gets rolled will get rolled.

Comment by hot chocolate Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 12:46 pm
Congressional seats should NOT be part of remap “reform” … until Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania (and others) also do so. For Illinois to do so alone is nothing more than enabling the Louie Gomerts of the world.

Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 12:50 pm
They’re going to pass a new law now, in mid-March, setting up a new commission to draw maps? And this new body is going to organize itself, get all of its members appointed, hold hearings throughout the state, and deliver maps by the state constitutional deadline? While (some) forces are trying to throw it to a coin toss so that maybe their party will win total control?

Yeah, sure. That’s realistic.

Comment by Socially DIstant watcher Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 12:50 pm
What goes around comes around. I remember when DuPage was almost all 6 with a little of 14. I cannot count the number of districts there now. Winning an election does have consequences

Comment by DuPage Saint Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 12:55 pm
At this rate they might as well let Dave Wasserman and the bloggers at the Dave’s Redistricting App be in charge of drawing all the maps this decade.

Comment by EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 1:00 pm
I’d like them to try to make a completely independent commission/process, but I HIGHLY doubt it would actually be independent. And the whiners will still complain about it and cast aspersions, so I’m not sure it would matter at all, in the end.

Still, better to try at a better process and fail than succeed in what you know is a flawed plan. IMO.

Comment by Perrid Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 1:00 pm
How does the Gov veto a map that maximizes minority participation and then labels it as “unfair?”

Comment by Kelly Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 1:12 pm
Hopefully President Harmon cares that much about municipalities like Calumet City which is population 37,000 and sliced up into three rep districts.

Comment by South Suburban Observer Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 1:15 pm
So Don Harmon is opposing HR-1, the Democrats’ #2 legislative priority, as it demands the independent commissions he is criticizing.

Comment by lake county democrat Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 1:18 pm
Time to grab the popcorn

Comment by Boone's is Back Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 1:19 pm
Being a downstater who has been gerrymandered much of my life, the typical method around here is to split up urban areas, giving a little of each to large swaths of rural areas and thus diluting the urban votes. Minimize just this problem and it would be enough to call it a fair map, even if it is still political.

Comment by Simple Simon Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 1:34 pm
It’s going to be a lot of fun to look at various citizen maps. We could try grouping people by preferred baseball team, use of soda/pop, and maybe @Chicagobars can help draw the late liquor licensees into a district or two.

Unless I’m missing something, the easy win here for Welch/Harmon *and* JB is to jut pass the map they want. They don’t need the governor’s signature if they can keep supermajorities happy with a new map.

Comment by Phineas Gurley Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 1:37 pm
=== They don’t need the governor’s signature if they can keep supermajorities happy with a new map.===

How ya gonna “draw” a map with 71 and 36 Dem seats from Jump Street?

The undercurrent is that the Raunerites were so bad at recruiting and then allowing real regionalism, they ceded the suburbs to get a high of 74 and a high of 41

The goal of the exercise is comfortable majorities that can show growth to maintain.

Getting a signature is needed. There will be disappointed members. 73 and 41 “drawn” is likely impossible.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 1:42 pm
==Getting a signature is needed.==

I beg to differ, a super-majority is very doable. A veto proof majority will put a lot of pressure on the Gov to just sign the Bill.

==There will be disappointed [Democratic] members.==

Not nearly as many if the Gov imposes political “fairness” into the map.

Comment by Kelly Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 1:58 pm
===Not nearly as many if the Gov imposes political “fairness” into the map.===

What, they going to support a Bailey like character after?

=== I beg to differ, a super-majority is very doable.===

Nope. How can one sign with a map already designed with super majority status of one party, the governor’s party. That’s harder to sign then…

===A veto proof majority will put a lot of pressure on the Gov to just sign the Bill.===

… vetoing it, forcing that super majority to override.

That’s a pickle.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 2:03 pm
Having both chambers override the governor on a map?

That’s a better scenario for the governor than an iffy map he signs.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 2:05 pm
- lake county democrat - Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 1:18 pm:

You might want to wise up on the differences between state and federal government, then come back later.

Comment by Precinct Captain Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 2:12 pm
It’s been pointed out above, but devil is really in the details re so-called “independent” map-making processes.

It’s 10 years old now and I’m sure reformers have new answers, so I don’t know how out of date this is, but I keep coming back to this ProPublica report about California and the last districting cycle.

https://www.propublica.org/article/how-democrats-fooled-californias-redistricting-commission

Also so long as everyone is on the same page, an independent map does -not- imply, Republicans have a 50-50 chance of taking over the state legislature in any given year. That would be a heavily gerrymandered map -against- the Democrats, given the realities of the underlying partisan landscape in this state.

Comment by ZC Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 2:54 pm
Is a legislative fight worth it for the governor? I ask that because I’ve never seen a poll that indicates redistricting reform is high on the list of what voters most care about. Don’t get me wrong, voters clearly favor the concept, it just doesn’t move the needle like a host of other issues.

What meaningful political capital does he gain from this? Madigan’s gone, so there are no points to score by fighting him. War with the legislature quickly results in diminishing returns (ask our last three governors.) Is he trying to win the Trib endorsement or something?

Like I said yesterday, he’s a Democratic governor of a Democratic state. He gets re-elected by getting all the Democrats to vote for him. Not sure this fight helps with that.

Comment by TNR Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 3:11 pm
Precinct Captain: enlighten me, how does Harmon’s *principle* that commissions of “insiders” who create more “partisan” maps magically change when applied to drawing the federal districts (i.e., *those* commissions, in contrast, draw non-partisan maps).

Comment by lake county democrat Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 3:55 pm
==But they won’t. And that means a showdown is coming with the governor.==

If that is the case then Gov. Pritzker really should consider removing all those around him.

JB seemingly has fewer and fewer allies at the top of the Democratic Party in Illinois except in name only. The Senate prides and seeks its continued independence. The new speaker wants to establish himself as a separate power and not 2nd fiddle to anyone else either. Map drawing is both new leaders’ chance to prove to their caucus they are up to the task of retaining power. Some campaign promise that a low polling governor made does not concern either Welch nor Harmon in the slightest.

It is, however, in JB’s interest to try to build some allies here. The one thing JB doesn’t want to repeat is a Patt Quinn loss. A candidate where every Democrat knows they should support but for one thing or another can’t speak of a reason why they should.

Unlike Bruce Rauner and the GOP, the Democratic Party doesn’t live or die on JB’s money. Does his help? Absolutely, but his absence hurts not destroys. Meanwhile, the GOP can barely keep fuel in Darren Bailey’s bus tour to nowhere.

That’s why you keep seeing L’s pop up on JB’s scorecard and why he can’t rule this party even with a slight grip; the party doesn’t need him like the ILGOP needed Rauner.

All that leads to JB, hopefully, realizing he needs to stop fighting with his allies and start building better relationships with them. Even on this issue.

Comment by MG85 Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 3:59 pm
Does anyone actually think that Harmon (geez, any sen pres for that matter) is going to support anything other than what will secure the Senate Dems supermajority in order to keep members happy and secure his re-elect at pres?

Comment by Shytown Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 4:42 pm
I find this whole thread amusing. Harmon is in the driver’s seat. No way no how does the Governor veto a bill they send. Politically having most democrats of the General Assembly cursing you and probably doing other damage isn’t going to happen. The General Assembly is driving this bus.

Comment by Tom Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 4:49 pm
=== No way no how does the Governor veto a bill they send. Politically having most democrats of the General Assembly cursing you and probably doing other damage isn’t going to happen.===

LOL

They can override him, and the governor is in the big chair, they need the governor’s signature on all kinds of things, and the political agenda of passsge of things, they are likely aligning.

If they are driving the bus, get it veto proof, pass it, then override.

That’s good for the governor too.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 4:54 pm
==There will be disappointed [Democratic] members.==

There will be a lot more disappointed Democrats if the map is drawn by a computer.

The stated goal of the Chicago Tribune, the BGA, and all of the “reform” groups is to create as many “competitive” districts as possible, where a Democrat and a Republican have an equal chance of winning.

That would be true if Democrats and Republicans have equally good ideas.

They don’t.

Republican ideas on hot button issues like civil rights, abortion, and gun control are repulsive to the majority of Illinois voters.

Republican ideas on the state budget are virtually non-existent.

If Republicans ever move back toward the center in Illinois, they will be competitive in the suburbs once again.

YDD

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 6:29 pm
=== If Republicans ever move back toward the center in Illinois, they will be competitive in the suburbs once again.====

Reset, Regroup, Recruit.

They won’t, but that’s what could help.

I’m not holding my breath they will try. I’m more the scream in the wind alone type.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 6:32 pm
Keep LOLing OW. You will see. He will sign by the end of June.

Comment by Tom Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 9:04 pm
=== He will sign by the end of June.===

If he chooses. This idea of no choice is the funny part

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 9:26 pm
Governor could always veto the passed maps by Speaker Welch and President Harmon with the added argument that the 2020 Census data hasn’t come in yet so might as well make it independent AND draw lines based on the most recent, accurate data. Truthfully, I don’t think line-drawing taken away from legislators will shift too much on the partisan side of things as our state demographics and geography is what it is…but it sure would change things for some incumbents.

Comment by Veil of Ignorance Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 10:21 pm
That center is almost gone. The culture wars are now generational and the right has lost with people under 40. Same with being a “fiscal conservative.” People under 40 have now endured 2 economic depressions worse than any downturn from 1948 thru 2007 in the last 12 years. The idea that small government and low taxes lifts all boats is another idea with ever fewer supporters under 40. Republicans are becoming far-right as their base gets older and whiter. The Democrats are the center. What ideas are the Republicans going to “move back to the center” with when the Democrats are already the center party.

Comment by SN1848 Tuesday, Mar 16, 21 @ 10:52 pm