Illinois redistricting

The maps Illinois Democrats approved in 2021 sealed in their political power for a decade — adding one Hispanic-majority blue seat in Congress and forcing two Republicans out of their districts.

Two Republicans will fight to represent a horseshoe-shaped district that takes in parts of the Metro East and the Quincy area.

The panel announced during a status hearing Friday that it will go ahead with in-person oral arguments, even though two sets of plaintiffs had said earlier in the week that the case could be decided solely on the briefs and written testimony that have already been filed.

The community of 32,000, one of the only growing cities in the Metro East, is split between two congressional districts. Some say this drastically hurts its representation.

The proposals were submitted as a part of the lawsuits challenging the state's new legislative district maps and would create more majority Latino and Black districts.

The number of downstate representatives is about the only thing that’s staying the same. The new boundary lines will likely swing the 13th District back to the Democrats.

The final draft pits two incumbent Democrats in Chicago against each other and creates a downstate district that leans democratic.

The new district boundaries also create a second district in the Chicago area that the state’s growing Latino population could capture.

National Democrats are pushing the party in Illinois to produce a congressional map that guarantees as many Democratic-leaning districts as possible.

But the three-judge federal court panel in Chicago declined to order a bipartisan redistricting commission be formed to redraw the maps.