Illinois Dem's want to look at redistricting congressional seats

[xray s]

At least some Democrats recognize we need to fight back...

http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intID=37945123

Democrats want shot at congressional map
By John Patterson Daily Herald State Government Editor
Posted 11/20/03
SPRINGFIELD - Some Illinois Democrats want to redo the state's congressional districts, arguing the state sends too many Republicans to Washington, D.C. while Democrats are having unparalleled success winning seats in Springfield.

"We have 10 Republicans, nine Democrats. It doesn't reflect the makeup of the state, and so we should redistrict," said state Sen. John J. Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, who along with Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr. is pushing to redraw the map approved in 2001.

Cullerton said Democrats should have 11 seats to eight Republican. The move is in response to Texas Republicans tossing out their map and drawing a new one to elect more Republicans.

[onebigbadwulf]

1. Awesome

use their own game.

[bluestateguy]

2. Tis about time

I see someone in the Illinois Democratic Party got my e-mail.

[Doomsayer13]

3. No

this makes us look like hypocrites. We should do this during the census, damnit. I don't think we have the right to rail against Delay and the Texas GOP and support the same measure just because it works to our benefit.

[Frodo]

4. It's worse than that

Yes, it stinks of the hypocritical, but they also had at least a semi-legitimate claim that their constitution requires the legislature to draw the lines and they hadn't yet. I'm not aware of a parallel situation in IL.

It would be a bad precedent to set... it would also be a mistake considering the rise in gop control of states. It would hurt us more than them to set the precedent that you can redistrict any old time you feel like it.

[helleborient]

5. As an Illinois Democrat, I agree...

As much as payback beckons...we're better than that.

Pursuing the Texas case in the courts is the right path. If the courts support that it is completely constitutional, then we make our decisions, but only then.

[mndemocrat_29]

6. But how long will the courts take?

I'm NOT in favor of re-redistricting, but if we wait until the Texas and Colorado cases are decided, we may be too late. We can't let the Republicans go into the next election with such an advantage. And, with the threat of an Illinois redistricting, maybe Denny Hastert will put some pressure on to stop the Texas re-redistricting.

[helleborient]

9. You win by running winning candidates and positive campaigns...

In my opinion...not by stooping to the same level and assisting the plunge into smarmy partisanship.

The Republicans in Illinois claimed Democrats would descend to the same political tricks they pulled...and I will continue to maintain it's not necessary. If it's necessary, we're not working hard enough elsewhere.

[jiacinto]

7. Some ideas for them

Here is the map from NCEC.



What I would do first:

DuPage County: Arguably one of the most Republican counties in the coutry. It has 912,044 people in it.

Therefore, what I would do is make one seat totally within DuPage County. Throw in as many Republicans there as possible. Concede that seat to the Republicans.

Then I would take the other 312,044 people in the county and merge them with either the 14th, the 16th, or the 8th. Actually it would even be better off to then make a seat that merges those DuPage precincts with the 8th and then spread the rest of them to the 16th. That would concede one or two Republican seats, but concentrate them in the suburbs.

I would then tinker with the 10th and shift as many Lake County precincts to the 8th and then extend the 10th into Chicago. I would do the same with the 11th. I would try to take some of the precincts from the 1st and the 2nd districts and shift them in there.

Now downstate I'd probably get rid of the weird appendages.

Does this sound good?

[burr]

16. so how many seats could the Democrats pickup with this plan?

3 or 4? If they could, it sounds great.

In Georgia, redrawing the districts allowed Democrats to pick up two additional seats in 2002. But one of the three new districts that was mostly Democratic went to the Repukes, meaning that they essentially didn't loose any seats in Georgia.

[mndemocrat_29]

25. GA-12 looks like it will head to the Democrats in 2004, however

[burr]

29. certainly...if we run a strong candidate this time, like John Barrow.

The last candidate we had, Walker..was lame. He had no grasp of the issues or of running a campaign, he was primarily being sold by his father. With any other candidate Burns should be easy to beat.

[mndemocrat_29]

18. Sounds good to me

Just to be clear, we'd pick up the 10th and 11th, and how many would we pick up downstate?

[burr]

24. o.k....never mind!

That was a nice topic. :eyes:

[NewJerseyDem]

8. It probably won't work

The courts have said that Colorado and Texas can do re-redistricting because the legislatures didn't do it in 2001. Illinois did do redistricting so the courts will probably strike it down. I don't like how it will appear hypocritical but we don't have a choice. We will lose something like 5 or 6 seats in Texas and we have to try to make them up. We could have 2 in Illinois and maybe 1 in New Mexico. The courts may not allow it but it is worth a try. If the Texas plan is struck down by the courts then we should repeal our re-redistricting.

I think that Phil Crane, Tim Johnson, and Jerry Weller would probably be the best congressmen to target. Johnson is somewhat moderate so it would be harder to beat him though and in general I would rather have him than Weller or Crane if we feel that 3 might be overreaching.

[jiacinto]

10. What I would do

Make DuPage county one seat. It has enough people there to put one seat totally within the county. Then spread out the remaining 300K residents around. I would personally send them to Phil Crane's district. I would concede those two seats.

I would then try to throw Judy Biggert and Weller into one seat. And then try to extend the 10th from Lake County to pick up some precincts in Chicago to tip the balance there.

[NewJerseyDem]

11. Kirk may be a lost cause

He is liberal enough that I could see him winning in a pretty Democratic district. He is also young and has a seat on the Appropriations Committee. He can bring pork back to his district so I don't know how much we could do to him. It doesn't hurt to take a few heavily democratic precincts from a solid democratic district though.

[jiacinto]

12. But the 10th has been easier for the Democrats than

the 6th, 8th, and 13th. That is the seat that should be tinkered with. Force Kirk into a primary against Biggert, Hyde, or Weller.

I do think that they would be doing the right thing if they made an entire district out of DuPage County. With population of 912,000 it can hold one seat entirely within its borders. Then spread out the other 300,000 residents to the other districts. Personally I would give them to Crane. Then I would try to force Hyde and Weller and/or Kirk into the same district.

I would also then try to extend a seat from the suburbs to the city of Chicago. I would probably try to take some of the precincts in Jesse Jackson's district and link them to a suburban district.

[mndemocrat_29]

19. I agree

The 10th is the easiest pickup. If they put Hyde v. Kirk in a primary, Hyde would win and would be slaughtered in the general election.

[jiacinto]

26. True

But I think Hyde would probably run against Biggert. I really think they should make one heavily Republican seat totally within DuPage county.

Or they could throw Hyde and Crane into the same district. Or Biggert with Hastert.

[dusty64]

14. Have the courts actually ruled

on these cases?

[Padraig18]

15. Johnson is my Congressman, and he's a Neanderthal!

He's about as right-wing as they come, and the whole country would be better off with him gone. :puke:

[helleborient]

17. Borderline Nazis are worse than Neanderthals..

I got districted out of Tim Johnson's district and ended up with Jerry Weller.

[Padraig18]

20. Jeez!

Talk about out of the fat and into the fire! You poor guy! :hug:

[NewJerseyDem]

21. Actually he isn't

There are a lot who are more right wing. He opposes school vouchers and opposes drilling in ANWR. Those votes alone make him a lot more moderate than many democrats. I'm not saying he is good but he is moderate in comparison to other republicans.

[helleborient]

23. That's what I was meaning...

Johnson isn't nearly as hard to swallow as Weller.

[Padraig18]

27. LOL!

That's like saying brain cancer is less painful than colon cancer, even though both are fatal. :P

[Padraig18]

13. Not gonna happen.

Madigan has already said 'no way'.

[genius]

22. If Texas can do it

so should Illinois.

[GreenPartyVoter]

28. I'm not a fan of redistricting

It gets abused often enough that it's a problem. (Witness the debacle in Texas, and when the Maine Dem's redistricted the only Green in the House right out of his district.)