Peoria Standard

Following the opinion released today by the Illinois Supreme Court, the rejection of House Republicans' lawsuit against Democrats' legislative maps brought reactions from Deputy House Republican Leader Ryan Spain. The court used the laches doctrine, citing a lack of timeliness, as justification for dismissing the case.

Deputy Leader Spain expressed strong discontent with the ruling, stating, "This decision by the Illinois Supreme Court is infuriating. I think Leader McCombie expressed it perfectly – the court is doing the dirty work for an artificial supermajority of Democrats." He further criticized the ethical standards of the court, drawing parallels with remarks made by Senator Dick Durbin about the U.S. Supreme Court.

Spain proceeded to highlight historical grievances dating back to 2016 when a citizen-led fair maps petition was struck down. This decision involved former Justice Thomas Kilbride, who, according to Spain, "used John Hooker, now infamous in the ComEd Four scandal," as the plaintiff, thus empowering then Speaker Mike Madigan and Illinois Democrats to control the legislative maps. Kilbride was not retained by voters in 2020, an unusual occurrence for an Illinois Supreme Court Justice.

The 2022 elections and related political contributions came under scrutiny as Spain alleged that Democrats manipulated the judiciary by spending large sums on the court races of Justices Elizabeth Rochford and Mary Kay O’Brien. "Democratic legislative leaders spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy the seats," he noted, referring to substantial backing by the All for Justice political action committee.

Spain advocated for "comprehensive ethics reform" within the Illinois Supreme Court, suggesting measures for conflict of interest disclosure and recusal rules to prevent potential biases. Critically, he remarked on the perceived issues with political spending: "Not even in Illinois, a place plagued by corruption, should you be able to buy seats on the Supreme Court to protect your artificial supermajorities in the legislature."

The full text of the Illinois Supreme Court decision can be found in the case of McCombie v. Illinois State Board of Elections, 2025 IL 131480.