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Cong. Schakowsky may be calling in some chits with her old friend the governor soon.
Two of the three announced candidates for Democratic Caucus vice chairman are making a strong pitch to their fellow lawmakers that Democrats need to swipe a page from the Republican playbook and initiate some pro-Democratic redistricting in Illinois, New Mexico and New York.Reps. Joe Crowley’s (D-N.Y.) and Jan Schakowsky’s (D-Ill.) support for off-year restricting in their home states — and their decision to campaign on it — reflects a growing acceptance in the caucus that Democrats need to employ the hardball tactics of a practice that many of them once decried.
The governor’s office has reportedly not looked at the issue yet, and I get the feeling from talking to people over there that they’d rather not deal with it now. Either way, at last check, Speaker Madigan is still against it.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Mar 2, 05 @ 2:36 pm
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Good for the Dems… bad for democracy.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Mar 2, 05 @ 4:22 pm
That woman makes my skin crawl.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Mar 2, 05 @ 5:18 pm
Mine too, her husband doesn’t rate high on my list either.
Comment by Craig Wednesday, Mar 2, 05 @ 5:55 pm
Ummm… even if Madigan went along with Schakowsky’s plan, how exactly is he supposed to carve out more Dem Congressional districts?
Wasn’t it the Dems who got to make the districts in 2000, or was that just the state districts?
In any event, I can’t imagine how exactly the Dems would carve out even more Democratic districts out of what they already have - but I guess maybe it would be possible if they felt like districting all 19 of them to be the same shape as the one Lane Evans has.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Mar 2, 05 @ 6:36 pm
The 11th CD could be combined with the 2nd making Weller vulnerable and leaving JJJ safe.
The 4th, 6th and 7th could be redrawn into three Dem districts.
The 5th, 8th, 9th and 10th could be drawn so that the GOP had no chance of winning back the 8th.
And the 17th, 18th and 19th could prob be drawn in such a way that the Dems had a better than 50% of winning the open race in the 18th.
But I’m just working from off the top of my head.
Comment by Carl Nyberg Wednesday, Mar 2, 05 @ 6:52 pm
I blame bi-partisanship for the whole mess.
The current Illinois congressional map was drawn to protect incumbents, not parties. The delegation was evenly split 10-10 when Illinois lost a congressional seat thru redistricting. The ten Republicans and nine of the ten Democrats agreed to sacrifice Democrat David Phelps’ seat, creating a planned 10-9 GOP advantage. Given that Democrats controlled the legislature and guv’s office, it was a clear example of incumbent-preservation at the expense of the majority party’s interests. Not to make too much of it, but we really have to blame the current god-awful map on bi-partisanship.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Mar 2, 05 @ 11:11 pm
Redistricting occurred in 2001. George Ryan was Governor and Pate Philip was the Senate President. I think your larger point is still valid, but the motivations change quite a bit.
And it was just the state districts—the Congressional District map was largely put together on a compromise between Hastert and Lipinski that the Lege Members and Governor agreed to.
There are several ways to split up voters in the Chicago area and get more Dem Districts. Weller is a good target as mentioned below. The marginals in the Republican districts are far lower than the Dem seats and so you can take Republican strongholds and make them very dense in support and reduce Democratic density while still maintaining strong majorities to keep them safe.
Comment by ArchPundit Thursday, Mar 3, 05 @ 10:26 am
I’m not an expert, but if the Dems reduce the 1st, 2nd or 7th to being less than 50% Black or the 4th to being less than 50% Latino, doesn’t this trigger oversight by the feds under the Voting Rights Act?
Comment by Carl Nyberg Thursday, Mar 3, 05 @ 11:53 am
Way to go Jan! These are the kind of agressive tactics Dems need to adopt if they are going to win nationwide.
As for making more Dem districts, with just a little a bit of work, you could change to the Chicgao congressional distrcits from 75%-80% Dem to 60%, and make the 10th, the 6th into Dem districts, and even turn the 8th into a safer seat for Bean.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Mar 3, 05 @ 4:15 pm
Carl:
After Shaw v. Reno, there may not be an issue with minority voting rights.
At any rate, this is just speculation because I honestly believe Madigan won’t do it. Schakowsky makes his skin crawl as well.
Comment by Ralph Thursday, Mar 3, 05 @ 4:59 pm