Prairie State Wire

Congressional and state legislative district borders are redrawn every 10 years. Both Democrats and Republicans are calling for fair redistricting, but Capitol Fax political columnist Rich Miller argues that the map is only part of the reason why candidates win elections.

Miller says if the incumbent isn’t seeking re-election, Democrats have a bigger chance of winning. Miller says that districts previously identified as “solidly GOP ten years ago are now in Democratic hands.” 

Using the 25th District as an example, he pointed out that Senate Democrat Karina Villa was chosen last year to represent the district over Republican candidate Jeanette Ward because it was an open seat left by Republican Jim Oberweis.

Miller said, “The Republicans didn’t have a great candidate in an open seat, the Democrats did have a good candidate. The Republicans were outspent and the top of the ticket was a disaster for them. The map wasn’t a real issue.” 

Recently, state Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) called out for a fair map and said that partisanship should be disregarded when drawing legislative districts. “We need to be agnostic about those partisan labels as we draw and create these districts,” he said.

But according to the Better Government Association, a fair map is not a game-changer for the Republicans. "Even nonpartisan maps are 'gerrymandered' to some degree, its report said. 

The Senate Redistricting Committee, which will be chaired by Sen. Omar Aquino (D-Chicago), and the House Redistricting Committee, chaired by Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez (D-Cicero), has scheduled their hearings for redistricting. The redrawing of the maps would be dependent on the 2020 Census results.