Illinois Democrats are preparing to approve on Tuesday a new congressional map that nixes the 16th district, which Trump-critic Republican Adam Kinzinger represents.
The redo comes after lawsuits claimed the redistricted maps were based on the American Community Survey, which produced population estimates, rather than the 2020 census outcome released last month.
Democrats in the state, however, said this week that the redistricted map was updated to better reflect the official results from the 2020 census.
Illinois State House leaders said the legislature would return to Springifled on Tuesday for another vote on the new map in an effort to ensure Democrats maintain control over the map-making process.
The vote is a redo for the map already approved by Democrats in the state earlier this summer but challenged through lawsuits from Illinois Republicans and Latino civil rights group Mexican Americans Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
Democrats in Illinois are looking to approve a redistricted congressional map on Tuesday based on the 2020 census results that could get rid of the current 16th district
Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican and Trump critic, could lose his House seat from redistricting in Illinois
If allowed to go through the courts rather than decided at the legislature level, Democrats, who control the Illinois House, Senate and governorship, fear a judge could throw out the maps or allow a bipartisan commission to take over.
House and Senate Democrats in Illinois posted online for the first time Monday afternoon new versions of the maps that will be used in elections for the next 10 years.
State Representative Elizabeth Hernandez, a Democrat who leads the House Redistricting Committee, said Monday, according to NBC News, that the new district lines “better reflect the data we recently received from the U.S. Census and ensure communities are represented by the people of their choice.”
Most importantly, Illinois Democrats want to make sure they maintain control of the legislative and executive branches in the state by posing themselves best for the 2022 midterm elections.
Kinzinger, a moderate Republican, could lose his House seat as the latest map would have the 16th district swallowed up by two surrounding districts with Democratic U.S. House members.
He told Politico last week he isn't 'losing sleep' over the new map, of which he has no control over.
'If I lose my district, we'll take a look then,' he said. 'But I'm not too freaked out.'
Although no official map has been released yet, draft copies of the new Illinois districts have emerged based on preliminary population counts – not the official Census Bureau numbers from the decennial survey.
Illinois' declining population is leading to the state losing one of its 18 congressional districts.
Democrats are fully in charge of the redistricting process in Illinois as the party controls the General Assembly's House and Senate and the governor, J. B. Pritzker, who holds veto power over the new map, is also a Democrat.
The party will, of course, attempt to organize the new map to maximize gains for upcoming elections.
Kinzinger, although a staunch critic of former President Donald Trump, is still a Republican serving in a blue-leaning area in the southwest outskirts of Chicago.
The representative is also one of the two Republicans House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tapped to serve on her select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack after Republicans refused to cooperate with the probe by nominating their own panel members.
The other Republican on the committee is fellow Trump-critic Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
By getting rid of Illinois' 16th district, the land would get lumped into Democratic Representatives Lauren Underwood's and Cheri Bustos' districts. Bustos is retiring, so Democrats want to do all they can to make sure they hang onto the seat in next month's midterm elections.
Illinois Democrats need to back 12 incumbents running for reelection in 2022 while maintaining control of Bustos' district and try to flip Republican Representative Rodney Davis' red 13th district seat blue.
Democrats view getting rid of Kinzinger's seat as the easiest way to achieve all of those goals.
