Illinois Democrats draw fire for 'gerrymandered' map in redistricting battles

Top Democratic lawyer uses dark money network to fight against voting rights, redistricting lawsuits

Democrats in Illinois are coming under fire from Republicans over the latest proposed map in the state’s redistricting battle. 

Illinois Republicans tore into the latest proposed redistricting map, which forecasters say heavily favors Democrats in 14 of the 17 districts. Republicans currently hold five House seats in the state, which is losing one seat based on the latest census data. 

Joe Hackler, a spokesman for the Illinois GOP, told Fox News in a Monday email that the state Democrats have made their plans to “disenfranchise Illinois voters” and go back on “repeated campaign promises” clear.

“As we said for the last version of the map, Illinois Democrats, led by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, have made it clear that they are willing to disenfranchise Illinois voters and break repeated campaign promises to do the bidding of [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and D.C. power brokers,” Hackler said.

“This new congressional map is an even more aggressive version of Democrats’ Nancy Pelosi Protection Plan,” he added.

Courtesy of the office of Rep. Mike Bost

“If you look at the proposed maps in Illinois, I think it’s pretty clear that the word ‘gerrymandered’ is the first thing that comes to mind,” Jason Sneed from the Honest Elections Project told Fox News in a Monday phone call. “There’s no way that, I think, you could get a map that looks like that if there wasn’t an effort to try to engage in gerrymandering.”

“And, to be completely frank, to some extent this is certainly part of the process, right? But the fact that it’s coming from elected Democrats – and, of course, Democrats attacked what they called gerrymandering from Republicans – certainly has a hypocritical ring to it,” he added.

“When he ran for office, Governor Pritzker pledged to veto any congressional map that wasn’t drawn by a fair and independent commission. But now he’s changed his tune in a desperate ploy to help Nancy Pelosi keep the majority in Congress,” Republican Illinois Rep. Mike Bost told Fox News. “This map is a gerrymandered mess, and anyone who cares about the will of Illinois voters should reject it.”

The new redistricting map has already seen one revision, but Republicans in the state are standing by their previous objections to the Picasso-esque maps.

Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, a Republican, previously torched Pritzker in a statement on the issue, accusing the governor of “lying” and teaming “up with state Democrats to draw a shameful, partisan gerrymander in a desperate attempt to keep Nancy Pelosi in power.”

“This proposed map, along with this entire redistricting process, is a complete joke,” Davis wrote. “It’s clear Gov. Pritzker and the Democrats will stoop to any low if it means they can keep their corrupt system going.”

Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., previously blasted the governor of the state and the Illinois Democrats as caring more about following the orders of Pelosi’s, D-Calif., than fairly representing the people of Illinois in the Capitol.

“When I served in the Illinois state Senate, I was proud to support a Fair Maps redistricting process because Illinoisans have made it clear that they are tired of politicians picking their voters,” LaHood said in a press release his staff pointed Fox News toward. “Illinois Democrats and Gov. Pritzker have shown with their proposed map that they care more about doing the bidding of Nancy Pelosi than giving Illinois voters fair representation in Washington.”

“The proposed maps are a slap in the face to good governance everywhere,” the congressman continued. “Illinois voters deserve much better than this non-transparent, corrupt process.”

A spokesperson for Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., also pointed Fox News to the congressman’s previous statement on the issue.

“I have proudly served six terms in the U.S. House and it has been an honor to do so,” Kinzinger tweeted earlier this month. “Following the release of the new congressional maps for Illinois, my team and I will spend some time looking over them and reviewing all of the options, including those outside the House.”

“This redistricting process has been anything but transparent, which comes as no surprise to anyone. I believe the people of Illinois deserve better,” he added.

The Illinois Democratic Party did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

Houston Keene is a reporter for Fox News Digital. You can find him on Twitter at @HoustonKeene.

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