Dupage Policy Journal

Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Westmont) is not letting up on her criticism of Gov. J.B. Pritzker for signing the Democratic-backed gerrymandered redistricting maps.

As a result of the 2020 census, the legislature is charged with drawing new political boundary maps based on increased or decreased population. Mazzochi is among a vocal group of Republicans angry at the governor for not taking a more inclusive approach to establishing the updated voting districts. 

“Despite numerous campaign promises by Governor Pritzker and legislators, the General Assembly never voted on a plan for an independent commission to take over the task,” Mazzochi said in a virtual rebuttal to the new maps. “Instead, as in years past, politicians drew the maps and picked the voters they wanted in their districts.”

A three-judge federal court panel heard oral arguments on Dec. 7 in the McConchie v. Illinois State Board of Elections case. The plaintiffs, Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich) and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Burr Ridge), along with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), said the maps violated the U.S. Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Republicans also charged that the new maps underrepresent minority groups, according to a newsletter from the office of Sen. Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry).

Despite the growth in the Latino population in Illinois, the September maps actually reduce the number of districts in which Latinos make up a majority of the voting-age population.

Three weeks later, the federal court ruled the maps did not violate the Constitution or Voting Rights Act.

That hasn’t deterred Mazzochi, who said the maps were “drawn for clearly stated political purposes and to help incumbents in the majority party win re-election.”

Pritzker promised in 2019 that he would not sign any maps that were unfair or gerrymandered. But the New York Times called the Democrats’ maps “among the most gerrymandered in the country.”