Prairie State Wire

With state Supreme Court elections slated for 2022, and following the historic vote not to retain Justice Thomas Kilbride in November, Illinois Republicans see it as a chance to gain a majority on the high court, which is currently 4-3 Democratic.

When asked about the upcoming redistricting process during an Illinois Chamber Day Zoom conference this month, Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) spoke about the efforts to reform redistricting, noting it appears Democrats also are interested in redistricting Supreme Court seats outside of Cook County.

“That’s quite a task to take on, because if you do that, it’s not just the Supreme Court, it’s the appellate court districts that have to be adjusted as well,” Durkin said.

“But the Democrats smell blood,” Durkin said. “When Justice Kilbride was not retained, that was a wake-up call that they’ve got to change these districts, because the district Kilbride presided in was getting very Republican.”

When Third Judicial District voters rejected Kilbride for retention, it was a first in state history. The Third Judicial District includes the counties of Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Kankakee, Knox, LaSalle, Marshall, McDonough, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren, Whiteside and Will.

“What could happen in two years in a mid-term election? Republicans could get control of the Illinois Supreme Court,” Durkin said. “Democrats know that, so that’s why I think there’s going to be a rush to change some of the boundaries in the Supreme Court districts, particularly the one that was recently held by Justice Kilbride.”

Kilbride voted with the 4-3 majority in a case that kept a redistricting reform measure from being put before voters in 2016.