© 2024 St. Louis Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Illinoisans get first look at new state Senate map

A screen capture of the proposed redistricting map from the Illinois Senate via Google Earth. (See a link to the full map in the story below).
(Illinois Senate via Google Earth)
A screen capture of the proposed redistricting map from the Illinois Senate via Google Earth. (See a link to the full map in the story below).

Updated at 1:28 p.m. with Republican reaction via the Associated Press:

Some Republican Illinois senators are satisfied with a newly proposed remap of their legislative
districts.

Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale says his new district would grow by about 7,000 people and pick up parts of Cook County in a proposed Senate redistricting map released Thursday.

Springfield Republican Sen. Larry Bomke is happy too. He's sorry to lose Menard and Logan counties but says his new district would be more Republican than it is now.

Redrawing political maps is done every decade based on U.S. Census figures. Democrats are in charge because they control the Illinois House, Senate and governor's office.

There's no word on when the Illinois House will release its proposal for House districts.

State lawmakers also have to draw new congressional districts.

No proposal for that has surfaced.

Updated 11:48 a.m., via the Associated Press:

Democrats have released their proposal for new Illinois Senate districts without providing population or voting information to shed light on how they would affect elections.

Illinois is set to lose one of its 19 U.S. House seats because of population shifts.

Senate Democrats say the proposed map released today creates seven districts with more than 50 percent African American voting age population, down from eight districts. It also would create five majority-Latino districts, up from four.

Other than that, Senate Democrats simply posted maps online that show the outlines of the proposed districts. They plan public hearings Saturday and Tuesday to provide more detail.

Senate Republicans are reviewing the proposal.

There's no word on when the Illinois House will release its proposal for House districts.