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* 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.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 10:55 am
Previous Post: It’s now a law
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Thanks. The third and fourth seem very intuitive and easy to understand.
Comment by H-W Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:00 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.
Comment by TJ Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:06 am
That “pièce de résistance” graphic is going to give me nightmares for a while.
Comment by NIU Grad Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:06 am
Texas Dems are returning to the longhorn state in another misstep for Pritzker and co.
Eagerly awaiting the linked article and your thoughts.
Comment by LP-Dad Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:13 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.
Comment by Homebody Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:15 am
I think we need an IQ test for people running for congress. Mary Miller would fail miserably.
Comment by Stephenson County Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:16 am
the last one..but but all together the red is bigger, say the fools
Comment by Amalia Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:17 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.
Comment by Irma Gerd Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:19 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.
Comment by low level Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:29 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.
Comment by Downstate Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:31 am
===Mary Miller doesnt seem to understand===
She’s not a stupid person.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:32 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.
Comment by TJ Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:34 am
==She’s not a stupid person.==
If been in a few meetings with her, and I would absolutely dispute this.
Comment by So_Ill Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:38 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.
Comment by illinifan Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:41 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.
Comment by low level Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:42 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.
Comment by Telly Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:47 am
“Mary Miller would fail miserably.” Whether that’s true or not doesn’t matter when she runs unopposed.
Comment by Skeptic Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:50 am
If we could gerrymander MM out of existence I’d regard that as a huge win for Illinois.
Comment by Morty Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:53 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.
Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 11:59 am
To Skeptic: Mary Miller will have a Democratic opponent. So I assume you mean she doesn’t have an opponent in the Republican primary.
Comment by Yooper in Diaspora 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.
Comment by Juice Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:07 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.
Comment by I-55 Fanatic Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:11 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.
Comment by low level Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:23 pm
Put another way, “people live in cities.”
Comment by Horace Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:32 pm
NIU Grad- they all gave me acid flashbacks for sure, esp the last one.
Comment by Loyal Virus Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:42 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.
Comment by ChicagoVinny Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:45 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.
Comment by JS Mill Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 12:46 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.
Comment by Skeptic Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:02 pm
The 7 seven smallest counties in Illinois combine to have about the same amount of people that live in 1 ward in Chicago.
Comment by Cool Papa Bell Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:12 pm
===but he didn’t get much (if any) support from the party===
Trump won that district last year by 35 points.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:15 pm
JS Mill
is.right as usual
Comment by walker Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:24 pm
I love me a good cartogram
Comment by Michael McLean Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:34 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.
Comment by Steve Rogers Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:50 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.
Comment by Skeptic 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?
Comment by low level Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 1:54 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.
Comment by Downstate Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 2:08 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?
Comment by low level Monday, Aug 18, 25 @ 2:54 pm