Sangamon Sun

Republicans lawmakers have reached the point of using Democratic leaders' own words against them in the fight for fair redistricting maps in Illinois.  

“I, like others, am going to share some remarks by one of our colleagues,” Rep. Mike Murphy  (R-Springfield) said. “These remarks were made Sept. 7, 2020 during the last election cycle and they were printed in the Chicago Sun-Times. The section I would like to share with you starts off, ‘I support redistricting reform, both in Illinois and at the federal level. In terms of federal representation, any change should happen on a nationwide level to equalize the playing field for all parties. In Illinois, I believe we need redistricting reform at the state level as well. Since my first race, I have always been a staunch reporter of the idea that a voter should choose their elected officials, not the other way around.”

Murphy notes that those are the words of Democratic state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview).

“I would like to thank Rep. Gong-Gershowitz for those remarks because I agree with her,” he said. “And I would also like to say that when reading those words I was reminded of the times her seatmate has reminded this body that words matter. I’ve thanked him on many occasions for making that statement and gone up to him and said I agreed with him.”

Republican legislative leaders are also doing their part to bring about what they view as a fairer process, filing a federal lawsuit earlier this month seeking to overturn maps drawn by Democratic lawmakers on the grounds the party’s reliance on population estimates is “arbitrary” and “discriminatory” and violates the U.S. Constitution.

As part of their action, House Republican leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) and Senate Republican leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) are pushing for a three-judge panel that would either appoint a special master to create new maps or obligate Democratic leaders to establish a system that would give Republicans more of a voice in the process.

Republican leaders were spurred to action after Gov. J.B. Pritzker quickly signed off on House Bill 2777, which creates the General Assembly Redistricting Act of 2021, paving the way for the new maps to go into effect immediately. As a gubernatorial candidate, Pritzker vowed to veto any map drawn by politicians. 

The suit charges Democrats relied on data from the American Community Survey rather than more specific data from the actual 2020 federal census. The suit claims the ACS estimate for 2020 undercounts Illinois’ population by nearly 42,000 people compared to the statewide figure provided by the federal census earlier in the year.

Democrats have insisted they were forced to turn to ACS data because U.S. Census Bureau information typically relied on won’t be ready by an end-of-June deadline this cycle largely because of delays caused by COVID-19. 

The lawsuit names the Illinois State Board of Elections and its members as well as the state’s Democratic legislative leaders, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside and Senate President Don Harmon of Oak Park.

Murphy had one last message for Gong-Gershowitz and Democrats.

“I hope that you will join us and vote no and help us create a system that will remove the politicians from the process and maybe we can achieve the goal like you said, a voter should choose their elected officials, not have the system that we have in place now where they are forced to accept the elected officials that districts have been carved out for them,” he said.