This week, once again, Governor Pritzker proved he is more interested in political stunts than serious policy. This time, the issue is gerrymandering – the process of drawing political districts to favor the party in charge, a process that both Democrats and Republicans partake in.
The national attention on the topic and Pritzker’s harboring and support for the Texas Democrats is welcome, especially on this topic where gerrymandering is becoming a household word and the hypocrisy of Illinois Democrats is exposed across the nation.
Last Sunday, about 30 Texas Democrat Legislators fled to Illinois to prevent a quorum during a special session in which the primary focus is an unusual, but legal, mid-decade redistricting.
After the private chartered plane carrying the Democrats landed at O’Hare Airport, they immediately proceeded to DuPage County for a press conference with Governor Pritzker. I attended the press conference and recorded for Facebook Live, which you can view HERE.
Half the room was filled with media, and the other half with Democrats. They were applauded by a handful of local Democrats who showed up at the Democrat Headquarters on Geneva Road in Carol Stream. The tone of the discussion was serious with the Texas Democrat Caucus leader, Gene Wu leading the presser followed by a couple of other Texas leaders.
Then it was Pritzker’s turn at the podium. He likewise spoke about the absolute unfairness of a mid-decade redistricting for the purposes of creating more favorable Republican districts in order to win additional Congressional seats in Texas. He said Texas Republicans were trying to hurt minority representation. He spent time telling the audience that President Trump was trying to take away healthcare, food subsidies, and the rights of poor Americans. In general, his tone was also serious in the fake way a politician sounds when they are repeating memorized talking points.
But, just two days after that press conference, the whole thing was revealed for the political stunt that it is.
Pritzker went on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and joked that he turned over the drawing of Illinois maps to a kindergarten class.
Pritzker on Late Show with Stephen Colbert mocking Illinois voters by making a joke over his gerrymandering.
“We handed it over to a kindergarten class and let them decide.”
Listen to the clip HERE.
Also, by Tuesday, the entire nation knew what a hypocrite Pritzker was on the issue. Pritzker said in 2018, when he first ran for Governor, that he favored an independent process for drawing the new maps after the 2020 census. But, in 2021, the process was done behind closed doors with no Republican input, and the first set of maps was thrown out by the courts because it used inaccurate data.
After the second map, publication 538 wrote, “Illinois May Be The Worst Democratic Gerrymander in the Country.”
By the numbers, comparing Texas to Illinois in terms of representation, Democrats are the minority in the Texas House and make-up 41% of the House seats and Democrats hold 34% of the Texas Congressional Districts. In Illinois, where gerrymandering has pushed Republicans into the super minority, 34% of the seats in the House are Republican, but only 18% of the Congressional seats are.
Redistricting usually occurs after the decennial census. Texas is arguing that in just five years, though, Texas population has grown by over two million people creating the need to redistrict mid-decade. From July 2023 to July 2024, Texas population grew by 562,941 residents, leading in overall population growth and domestic population growth. Illinois, on the other hand, was the third biggest loser of population since 2020 just behind California and New York.
If Pritzker and his fellow Democrat Governors also want to redistrict mid-decade – good luck. They’ll have a hard time gerrymandering their states any more than they already are.
In case you think Texas is acting unfairly, consider what Democrats have created in terms of representation in their Democrat-controlled gerrymandered states.
Sidebar – a tangential debate is going on about President Trump calling for a new mid-decade Census. Trump wants to not include illegal immigrants in the census. Eliminating them from the census count could dramatically alter the apportionment of the 435 Congressional seats. Further review of the 2020 census showed that Red states were undercounted and Blue states overcounted in population. Interestingly, Illinois’ population was undercounted with Gov. Pritzker calling out the unfair result, noting that census numbers also matter for how federal money is distributed to states.
Read more HERE.
The Wall Street Journal opined about Pritzker’s hypocrisy in numerous articles, below is a snapshot of their August 5th editorial on the topic.
Texas Republicans aren’t playing around. They have issued civil warrants for the arrest of the Democrats who have not shown up for session. They have imposed $500 per session day fines for every day that the recalcitrant Dems fail to show up. And on Friday, they took it a step further by filing a lawsuit in Adams County, Illinois to compel the enforcement of the arrest warrants in Illinois.
The Texas Tribune reported,
Paxton is calling on the “full faith and credit” clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says states should honor each other’s judicial proceedings. States typically do enforce each others’ judgments and comply with extraditions, but there are limits to when they are required to do so, legal experts previously told The Texas Tribune.
The lawsuit is filed in Illinois’ westernmost county, four and a half hours away from the Chicago suburb where the Democrats have camped out. The county voted for Trump by 47 percentage points in 2024, suggesting Paxton is seeking a friendlier venue than he might find in DuPage County, where the Democrats are staying, which went for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris by 14 points.
The situation will undoubtedly escalate. Already, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton are filing legal documents to declare the Democrat seats vacant, which could lead to them running for their seats again in a special election.
It is entirely possible that Texas Democrats will stand their ground and seek to remain in Illinois for another week to wait out the special session. If they do so, it is also possible that they could be arrested in Illinois and sent back.
The good news in all of this is that so many more people are now aware of how badly partisan Illinois maps are and how unserious and hypocritical Pritzker is on the issue.
As Pritzker plays to the national audience about what the Democrats are now calling Trump’s Texas Takeover, he is completely ignoring the alarming costs of electricity for regular Illinoisans. This is a serious issue with reports of seniors with serious medical issues going without air conditioning because they cannot afford their electric bills.
Ameren customers are getting hit the hardest. I was in Villa Grove, Illinois, on Thursday for a press conference at the Embarras bar and restaurant, where owner Ryan Garrett highlighted the surging cost of electricity.
