Illinois Governor: Redistricting Effort Hinges On Indiana
Tuesday’s elections were a huge boon for Democrats in the ongoing redistricting battle. While redistricting efforts in California and Virginia are currently underway, Gov. JB Pritzker said that an Illinois redistricting effort would be decided by how Indiana’s redistricting push progresses.
According to STLPR, Pritzker was speaking at an event in Alton, Illinois, when asked about a potential redistricting effort in the state. “We’re watching what Indiana does,” Pritzker said. “We may have to react to that. It’s certainly something that people have considered here, and the legislature has considered here. But we’ll have to see what happens.”
Despite being a red state with a state legislature controlled by a Republican supermajority, Indiana’s redistricting effort hasn’t gone off without a hitch. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance held several meetings with Indiana state officials over the summer to encourage them to begin a redistricting effort. For a moment, it looked as if the efforts had stalled out as they didn’t believe they would have the votes in the state Senate.
That is, until Indiana Gov. Mike Braun announced a special legislative session to focus on redistricting late last month. Indiana’s map is already heavily gerrymandered, with only one seat realistically up for grabs in a potential redistricting push.
While Indiana voters are staunchly against a mid-decade redistricting effort, the move to call a special session has been seen as a way to force state legislators to choose between listening to their voters or going against Trump. Despite demanding unquestioning loyalty, Trump has no problem throwing members of his own party under the bus. Should an Indiana state legislator come out against the redistricting effort, there’s a very real chance Trump will publicly call them out and may even support a potential primary candidate who’s more willing to play ball. The special session is set to begin in December, so it remains to be seen if Indiana will have the necessary votes to implement a new map.
House Minority Speaker Hakeem Jeffries has previously called on Illinois to undertake a redistricting effort to help combat the GOP’s attempt to gerrymander their way to a win in next year’s midterms. “We’ve been looking at pairing with different states,” Pritzker added. “We don’t think that this is a good idea. The redistricting across the country — not a good idea. But, unfortunately, Donald Trump is trying to cheat. He thinks that redistricting mid-decade is OK.”
The redistricting battle began in July when Trump asked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to trigger a rare, mid-decade redistricting effort. Redistricting typically occurs every 10 years with the release of new Census data. The GOP holds a narrow majority in the House, with Democrats only needing a net gain of three seats to flip control. After a long, fraught effort that saw Texas Democrats leave the state to break quorum, and Rep. Nicole Collier held political prisoner on the House floor, Texas eventually passed a map that adds five new House seats in districts Trump won.
Missouri and North Carolina soon followed suit, with their redistricting efforts giving the GOP an extra seat in both states. Missouri’s effort is still a question mark, though. The map faces several legal challenges, and a potential referendum that would put the map itself on the ballot during next year’s midterms.
With the passage of Prop 50 this week, California voters approved a map that will neutralize the gains made in the Texas redistricting process. Virginia Democrats increased their numbers in the House of Delegates and took both the governor’s and attorney general’s offices, clearing one of the biggest roadblocks in their redistricting effort.
Should Virginia voters pass a constitutional amendment that transfers control of the state’s maps from an independent redistricting committee to the General Assembly, Virginia Democrats intend to implement a map that gives Democrats two to three House seats.
With so many blue states entering the redistricting fight, the GOP might actually have to start considering policies that endear them to working-class voters if they want to maintain control of the House. Who am I kidding, though? We all know they’re going to default to racism like they do every single time.
SEE ALSO:
Virginia Democrats Launch Surprise Redistricting Effort
Texas State Dems Break Quorum To Prevent Redistricting Vote
Illinois Governor: Redistricting Effort Hinges On Indiana was originally published on newsone.com
