After the Illinois Supreme Court refused to take up Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie’s lawsuit to fight for Illinois voters through a fair map, she released the following statement:

"Today is a shameful day in Illinois history. The voices of voters have once again been silenced by a Democratic machine that will stop at nothing to cling to power. This isn't leadership — it's a raw, cynical power grab. Every Illinoisan, regardless of political affiliation, should be outraged by what just happened.

Illinois House Republican leaders provided the latest update this week regarding their ongoing lawsuit on redistricting filed with the Illinois Supreme Court. The lawsuit alleges that the Illinois Democratic majority has rigged legislative elections by gerrymandering electoral districts to their benefit, and at the expense of a fair process for all Illinois voters.

House Republican Leader Tony McCombie was joined by Deputy Leader Ryan Spain and Assistant Leader Dan Ugaste at a press conference in Springfield to provide the latest details.

“Earmuffs”

“Goofy kicking Donald Duck”

“Impressionistic representations of the yearnings and deviousness of politics today.”

The nicknames and descriptions for bizarrely contorted legislative districts are almost as numerous as the districts themselves. They add a little humor to an otherwise serious problem that has come to define a key part of America’s increasingly dysfunctional legislative branch, at both the state and federal levels.

On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (Savanna) was joined by State Representatives Ryan Spain (Peoria) and Dan Ugaste (Geneva) for a press conference in the State Capitol to discuss their latest litigation effort to combat legislative gerrymandering. McCombie, in her official capacity, filed a lawsuit with the Illinois Supreme Court to declare the current map unconstitutional and ask for a special master to draft a redistricting plan that complies with the Illinois constitution.

For Governor JB Pritzker and Illinois Democrats, making and breaking big promises is becoming a way of life. If that sounds like a typical throwaway political attack line, an examination of the last year of action (or inaction) by the governor and the Illinois General Assembly reveals the truth.

From drawing fair legislative maps to promises of honesty in financial dealings, protecting children in the care of DCFS, addressing rising crime, and providing relief for families struggling to afford necessities like food and fuel, Democrats have made some big promises. To this point in the 102nd General Assembly, it seems Democrats' promises were made to be broken. 

Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin and Illinois Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie filed a lawsuit today in federal court to challenge the legislative maps drawn and passed by Illinois Democrats in the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker. The lawsuit is being filed against Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch (in his official capacity), Illinois Senate President Don Harmon (in his official capacity), the offices of the Speaker of the House and the Senate President, and the Illinois State Board of Elections and its members (in their official capacities).

Reported by WCIA today: 

Our news cameras were rolling as dozens of House Democrats filed in and out of a locked door on the Capitol Complex grounds. Inside, members of House Speaker Chris Welch’s staff showed members one-by-one where the lines of their new districts could be drawn. 

“Yes, I will pledge to veto,” JB Pritzker said as a candidate in 2018 when asked if he would veto “any state legislative redistricting map proposal that is in any way drafted or created by legislators, political party leaders and/or their staffs or allies.”

He couldn’t have been more clear. “Yes, I will pledge to veto.”

Just in case anyone thought it needed clarification anyway, candidate Pritzker followed up in his answer to a questionnaire in the Northwest Herald: “I support ending the gerrymandering of districts to encourage more competitive elections.”

Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods), House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), Senate Republican Caucus Chair Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) and House Assistant Minority Leader Tim Butler (R-Springfield) today introduced the People’s Independent Maps Act to allow Illinois legislative redistricting maps to be created by an independent commission, rather than politicians. 

Sign the Petition to Support Independent Maps

By Rep. David S. Olsen (R-Illlinois) and Sen. Frank LaRose (R-Ohio)

"By designing districts for partisan advantage, we send the message that winning elections is more important than upholding democracy."

On Monday, the Supreme Court kicked back to Wisconsin and Maryland state courts two gerrymandering cases that attempted to establish that legislatures that use gerrymandering to ensure partisan outcomes were acting with unconstitutional bias. In doing so, they have essentially ensured that any constitutional remedies to overly partisan gerrymandering will be years away, if they ever come.

We believe, then, that’s it’s up to us — state legislators — to act on behalf of the constituents that elected us and end partisan gerrymandering on our own.

Partisan gerrymandering has plagued our democracy since the days of the Founding Fathers: The jagged edges of many districts don’t reflect real-life boundaries, like rivers or mountain ranges, but rather exist because someone drew lines with the pernicious purpose of manipulating electoral constituency boundaries to favor one party. Read the entire opinion piece by Rep. Olsen & Sen. LaRose. 

If you agree sign the petition to end gerrymandering support independent maps.

 The sun came up Monday, the day after the deadline for putting constitutional amendments on the Nov. 6 ballot — and no, you won’t get to vote this year to end gerrymandering in Illinois. But you knew that.

With the deadline approaching and several versions of the amendment parked in committee, the only signs of life were a few last-minute lawmakers hopping on the bandwagon too late. A version pushed by the reform coalition Change Illinois ended up with 39 sponsors in the Senate — supposedly signaling that it would pass that chamber, if only Senate President John Cullerton would call it for a vote. Which of course wasn’t going to happen. Read the rest of the Tribune Editorial.

For years, good-government advocates have pushed for a new way to draw Illinois House and Senate district boundaries to curb the influence of partisan politics in deciding who controls the General Assembly, only to fall short due to legal hurdles.

Now a new group funded by well-heeled backers is taking another run at the issue as it tries to learn from mistakes of the past by getting an earlier start and drafting a proposal it believes can withstand an inevitable court challenge. The Independent Map Amendment effort says it's well on its way to getting enough signatures to put the measure on next year's ballot, aided by voter frustration over the stalemate at the Statehouse.

Read the story in its entirety in the Chicago Tribune.