Peoria Standard

Today, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker indicated that the state might need to adjust its congressional districts to further favor Democrats in response to Texas considering redrawing its own districts. Currently, Illinois' congressional districts are significantly gerrymandered in favor of Democrats with a 14-3 advantage.

Deputy Illinois House Minority Leader Ryan Spain (R-73rd District) responded with a statement criticizing the Governor's comments. "Nothing is more phony than disingenuous and hypocritical outrage from a grandstanding Governor who signed some of the worst partisanly gerrymandered legislative maps in the country," said Spain. He emphasized his opposition to partisan gerrymandering by stating, "I disagree with efforts in other states to double down on further partisan gerrymandering, but I can make that statement because I voted against partisan gerrymandering in Illinois and have been dedicated to its elimination for many years."

Spain also recalled that Pritzker campaigned against partisan gerrymandering but later supported it when it became politically advantageous. "The nonpartisan Princeton Gerrymandering Project gave Illinois’ congressional districts a failing ‘F’ grade. The fact is, Democrats’ supermajorities in the Illinois General Assembly and their grip on our congressional delegation only exist because of this extreme partisan gerrymandering. Spare us the fake outrage, Governor," he stated.

Spain highlighted that various non-partisan organizations recognize Illinois as having significant issues with gerrymandering. This was evident in recent elections where Democratic candidates won disproportionate numbers of seats compared to their share of the statewide vote.

Representative Spain serves the 73rd House District, which covers parts of Bureau, Henry, Lee, Marshall, Peoria, Rock Island, Stark, Whiteside, and Woodford counties.