Peoria Standard

State Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) is vowing to fight in the battle to bring fair map redistricting to Illinois.

“I’m a member of the Illinois House redistricting committee,” Spain said at a May 6 news conference posted to YouTube. “We have talked for years going back to the previous attempts to pass a constitutional amendment through a citizen petition effort that politicians should not be allowed to select their own voters. It's been an anecdote; it's been a reality, but today we actually get to see exactly where it happens.”

Spain pointed to a room where he and other GOP lawmakers claim Democrats hunkered down in secret for the purposes of selecting their own voters instead of allowing voters to choose their leaders.

“It is completely an injustice to democracy that we bear witness to this type of action, and as we've talked about repeatedly in the many redistricting committees that have been held throughout the state we are in no position right now to draw a map for the Illinois General Assembly because we do not have the census data that is necessary to draw an accurate and accountable map,” he said.  

Spain notes the state has invested upwards of $30 million toward an accurate census, but now Democrats don’t seem concerned about getting their money’s worth.

“Behind us are Democrats using population estimates, dubious commercial data sources to draw maps and why are they doing it now?” he asked. “Why are they doing it in this room? So that they can uniquely control the outcomes and then impose them upon the people of the state of Illinois.”

Republicans like Spain now see Gov. J.B. Pritzker backing away from the pledge he made as a gubernatorial candidate to veto any map drawn by politicians as a major red flag.

The Illinois constitution says lawmakers must approve a map by June 30. Typically the job of redistricting is left in the hands of the party in charge, but if deadlines are not met, an independent commission could be empowered to do the job. With the state already losing one of its 18 congressional districts because of dwindling population, Republican lawmakers argue the time to take a stance in hopes of it meaning a fairer process for everyone going forward is now.