Illinois House Republicans are urging the Illinois Senate to reject HJRCA 28, a constitutional amendment that would change the standards for drawing legislative and representative districts.Â
The measure was introduced by Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and passed the House on partisan lines. The caucus issued an alert as the Senate prepares to take final action on the proposal, calling on voters and senators to oppose it.
Outside groups have raised concerns about past redistricting outcomes in Illinois. An analysis by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project gave Illinois congressional maps drawn after the 2020 census failing grades for partisan fairness, competitiveness and geographic features. The state’s districts scored particularly low on compactness, with an average Reock score of 0.298, and featured more county splits than typical plans. Those outcomes have contributed to limited competition in legislative and congressional races across the state.
Current representation also reflects these patterns. Illinois Democrats hold 14 of 17 congressional seats, or more than 82% of the delegation, in a state where the Republican presidential candidate received 44% of the vote in the most recent election. State legislative maps have similarly produced supermajorities for Democrats in both chambers. Critics have said these imbalances show that allowing politicians to draw their own maps leads to partisan advantages, rather than competitive districts chosen by voters, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal.
The Illinois House Republican Caucus represents the minority party in the Illinois House. It is led by Tony McCombie, the first woman to hold the position. The caucus has advocated for fair redistricting reforms, including support for independent commissions to remove mapmaking power from politicians, according to its official website.
