Metro East Sun

State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Jacksonville) says the more things change the more they always seem to stay the same in Springfield, offering up the growing debate over map redistricting as a perfect example.  

“There are a lot of new faces in here, but I have worked with a lot of you over the years and we're getting the same outcome that we had before but it's a new day,” Davidsmeyer said on the  issue of map redistricting. ”One of my colleagues on the other side talked about districts and about how some districts have gone from Republican to Democrat and some have gone from Democrat to Republican. I agree they have, it changes.”

But Davidsmeyer argues that hardly tells the whole story, especially when the once-every-decade job of redrawing districts is in play.  

“She spoke of individuals who vote for the person instead of the party, I agree,” he said. “You guys have been really good today with talking points. You guys have not talked about the maps; you focused on trying to tell Illinoisans what Republicans stand for. Well, I'll tell you what we stand for. We've said it over and over. We stand for the right data – waiting for the U.S. Census data. We stand for an independent commission, not politicians picking their voters."

As the debate over fair redistricting maps shows no signs of dissipating, Republican lawmakers in Springfield are doing all they can to create what they see as a fairer process, filing a federal lawsuit earlier this month seeking to overturn maps drawn by Democrats on the grounds the party’s reliance on population estimates is “arbitrary” and “discriminatory” and violates the U.S. Constitution, and were designed solely to keep Democrats in power.

As part of the proceedings, House Republican leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) and Senate Republican leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) are pushing for a three-judge panel that would be responsible for creating a system they trust would be more reflective of communities and equitable to all lawmakers.

“I'm not going to sit here and put words in the mouths of my Democrat colleagues, instead I'm going to read directly from a press release and I hate doing this because I appreciate the person that I'm going to be speaking about,” Davidsmeyer said. "Decades of one-party control over the drawing of political jurisdictional lines may soon come to an end thanks to an initiative passed out of the Illinois House by state Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Round Lake Beach).”

Republican leaders were spurred to action after Gov. J.B. Pritzker quickly signed off on the redrawn maps without Republican input despite insisting as a gubernatorial candidate that he would veto any map drawn by politicians.

The suit charges Democrats relied on data from the American Community Survey rather than more specific data from the actual 2020 federal census. The suit claims the ACS estimate for 2020 undercounts Illinois’ population by nearly 42,000 people compared to the statewide figure provided by the federal census earlier in the year.

The lawsuit names the Illinois State Board of Elections and its members as well as the state’s Democratic legislative leaders, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside and Senate President Don Harmon of Oak Park.