Sangamon Sun

Republican state Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) says he’s seen it all before with the way Democrats handled map redistricting and the way Gov. J.B. Pritzker rushed to formally sign off on their plan.

“I think what we have here today is the culmination of a foregone conclusion among the Democrats in Illinois,” Butler said at a recent press conference. “A bad deal, but it's a deal between Pritzker and the General Assembly to push through partisan maps and push aside their concerns that they have voice. For several months now, they pushed aside these concerns to solidify their own political monopoly in Illinois.”

GOP leaders had hoped things would be different this time given as a candidate Pritzker had pledged to veto any map drawn along partisan lines.

Instead, the governor wasted little time signing off on a plan Butler and other Republican lawmakers blast as a scheme designed to keep Democrats in power.

Pritzker moved to enact the new legislation after hours earlier claiming he had not had a chance to review the maps critics charge Democrats had crafted in secret. In all, he signed off on three maps, outlining new boundaries for districts for the General Assembly, the Illinois Supreme Court and the Cook County Board of Review.

“It's as easy as that,” Butler added. “The governor just yesterday in interviews about redistricting stated that he honestly had not reviewed the maps. Well, obviously the governor didn't need to review the maps if he had not reviewed them last night and signed them today. It was a foregone conclusion he had in mind.”

The maps will now define legislative districts for the next ten years.

In a statement, Pritzker said he is satisfied the maps do what they need to in terms of keeping elections fair and communities adequately represented across the state. Democratic House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch has also defended the governor’s actions as a “win for the people of this great state.”

Butler dismissed it all as just more political rhetoric.

“What we have here today is the governor going back on his word,” he said. “The Democrats using the same old playbook they have to the detriment of the people of Illinois. This is a sad day in the history of Illinois. We had an opportunity in this 10-year cycle to move forward in a positive fashion. Governor you let us down; you let the people down and that's on you.”