Elections Have Consequences, Illinois Edition
The process of redistricting — redrawing the boundaries for each state and federal legislative district — has begun in Illinois. And as can be expected, Chicago Democrats are drawing the maps for Illinois with only cursory input from the rest of the state.
I post this here because activists in all states should be aware of these issues–and, to show off the awesomeness of Dale Righter (R-IL55).
Image source: Wikipedia
But Illinois Republicans have only ourselves to blame. We lost the gubernatorial election by 20,000 votes out of about three million, despite winning 99 out of 102 counties. That breaks down to about 200 votes in every county, or typically about 10 votes per precinct. Since about half of our precincts are not represented in the party by a precinct committeeman, it is clear why we left a lot of Republican votes at home.
Illinois State Senator Dale Righter had this to say about the process of redistricting. After explaining the fundamentals in a constituent email, Righter said:
However, the process the Illinois Senate Redistricting Committee is utilizing to gather input must be improved. Currently, five public hearings have been scheduled throughout Illinois. As the Republican Chairperson of the committee [on public comment], I believe the citizens of this state would be far better served by the opportunity to also attend hearings after the legislative map has been drawn, before it is adopted.
Nearly 30 groups provided testimony at the Chicago hearing earlier this week. But despite the obvious fact that the new legislative boundaries will affect the entire state, only Cook County senators have been assigned to the Redistricting Committee.
I urge you to contact Governor Pat Quinn and Senator Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago), Chairman of the Senate Redistricting Committee, and urge that you have the chance to weigh in on the legislative map that determines your representation after it has been crafted, but before it is voted upon by the General Assembly.
Share this post
About the author
Owner of Stix Blog. Doug has been blogging for about 10 years, and can always be found on twitter. Part of the Gateway Grassroots Initiative. And the resident Code Monkey for The TMR Network
facebook
linkedin
flickr
twitter
youtube
8 Responses to "Elections Have Consequences, Illinois Edition"
Testing comments
Awesome comment, Stix. Really, that's the sort of feedback I like best.
[editing a comment]
We are trying to get the comments fixed. The comments system we have now is just temporary. We are waiting on a comment system and trying to wirk with them But the titles are messing up now. So we are trying to get one that does not look as bad.
BTW, I was only playing along to help test the comment system, which looks excellent.
But the login for the comment system is separate for the login for the blog.
LOL Yes that is the only problem. Other than that I love it,. Intense Debate has grown and is better than when I was using it
My recent post I am still waiting for my unicorn
I had the option of logging in with my wordpress password and ID… didn't everyone?
This is an excellent post, and shows how the Dems and many of those in power keep their fiefdoms. Some of the boundaries in IL are so out of whack and look like modern art.
Anything to keep in power.
It also shows why we need more people to get involved in the process. IL is a Blue state but is does not always have to be.
Loren, this is a really interesting post–i.e, in that it deals with grassroots issues like redistricting and becoming a precinct committeeman. We needed someone to do something like this. Thanks for posting this.
Take care, and have a good night.
X0X0, Suzi
Leave your response