Together with Latino voting advocates, Illinois Republican lawmakers have submitted a proposed new state legislative maps to a panel of federal judges, declaring their proposed maps significantly increase the likelihood that Latinos will be elected to the Illinois General Assembly, while much more closely aligning with Illinois’ racial realities, than maps recently approved by the state’s Democratic supermajority.
The map proposal was filed on November 10 in Chicago federal court, as the latest step in a court fight over accusations that Gov. JB Pritzker and the Democrats who dominate the Illinois state capitol violated the law in drawing new legislative district maps, roundly criticized by many across the country as egregious examples of politically-motivated gerrymandering.
In contrast to the map approved by Democrats, “Plaintiffs are submitting a Remedial Map that appropriately accounts for racially polarized voting in Illinois, complies with the (federal Voting Rights Act), and provides minorities with an opportunity to participate in the political process and elect candidates of their choice,” the Republican lawmakers and Latino advocacy groups wrote in a joint memorandum accompanying their map proposal.
Illinois State Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington
The plaintiffs particularly noted their new proposed map would increase the number of majority Latino state House districts from just four in the Democrats’ approved map to 11 under the new proposed map, and would create five majority Latino state Senate districts, compared to just two under the Democrats’ map.
The new map would also create a new additional majority Black House district in the Illinois suburbs of St. Louis.
The increase in majority Latino districts would be particularly pronounced in suburban Cook County and west suburban Aurora under the new proposed plan, according to the plaintiffs’ memorandum.
At the same time, the plaintiffs said, their new districts are more compact than those drawn by Democrats.
In that ruling, the judges found the Democratic majority violated the constitutional rights of Illinois voters when they rushed though new legislative district maps late in the spring that did not use actual Census data, just as Republicans and Latino advocacy groups had claimed in court challenges.
In the ruling, the judges also particularly noted the Democratic lawmakers’ brazen political motives in rushing through such maps:
A desire to eliminate any possibility Republicans could wrest control of the mapmaking process, and cut into Democratic domination in Springfield.
The Illinois state constitution establishes a June 30 deadline for completing the work of redrawing the state’s state House and Senate districts, a task to be completed following the U.S. Census every 10 years.
Should the deadline be breached, the mapmaking process could be sent to a bipartisan commission, which could ultimately result in partisan control of the process being decided by chance, under a tie-breaking drawing of lots.
This year, the official Census data needed to draw those districts was delayed from the usual April date, to August. The Census Bureau blamed difficulties caused by the COVID pandemic for the delays. Democrats, however, moved ahead with drawing new districts, anyway, using so-called “population estimates.”
Republicans and Latino advocacy groups both filed suit to challenge the maps, claiming they resulted in unconstitutional districts with unequal populations. They also asserted the maps violated the Voting Rights Act, as they were designed to boost the power of the Democratic Party in Springfield, at the expense of Latino voters’ ability to elect Latino lawmakers from majority Latino districts.
After the release of the Census data in August, Democrats – again, hurriedly – enacted new maps to replace the June maps, allegedly addressing the population imbalances among the districts.
However, the plaintiffs asserted, the maps still violated the rights of Illinois voters, and particularly Latino voters.
The federal judges declined to throw out the September maps, for now. They instead declared those maps would remain under review, and they invited the plaintiffs to submit maps of their own for consideration.
The judges, however, said the maps must use the approved September maps as a “starting point.”
The Republican lawmakers and Latino advocacy groups said their proposed map should meet the judges’ criteria.
They noted the map leaves the boundaries of 87 of the 172 districts in the Democrats’ September maps undisturbed, while fixing the “constitutional defects” in the September maps, and nearly tripling the number of majority Latino districts.
A hearing is scheduled on the maps before the three-judge panel on Dec. 6.
In a statement following the court filing, State Sen. Jason Barickman, of Bloomington, who chairs the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus, noted witnesses in the case have “confirmed under oath that the maps passed by the Democrats and signed by Gov. Pritzker protected incumbents by having sitting politicians draw their own districts.”
“As noted in court filings, Democratic lawmakers were drawing their own districts without even using data on minority populations,” Barickman said in the statement.
Barickman particularly singled Pritzker out for criticism over the maps.
“This map nearly triples the number of Latino Senate and House Districts and adds another African-American district,” said Barickman. “Either the Governor didn’t really review the politician-drawn maps, or he agreed to protect politicians at the expense of Latino and African American voters in Illinois.”
The Latino voters are represented in their case by MALDEF attorneys Griselda Vega Samuel, Francisco Fernandez del Castillo, Thomas A. Saenz and Ernest Herrera, of Chicago and Los Angeles.
Republican legislative leaders are represented by attorney Charles E. Harris II, and others with the firm of Mayer Brown, of Chicago, and attorney Phillip A. Luetkehans and others with the firm of Luetkehans Brady Garner & Armstrong, of Itasca.
The Democratic lawmaker defendants, including House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and Senate President Don Harmon, are represented by attorney Michael Kasper.
Kasper is well known for his association with former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.
Other firms representing the Democrats include Power Rogers,LLP; Latham & Watkins; and Hinshaw & Culbertson, with attorney Heather Wier Vaught. Wier Vaught is also an associate of Madigan.