State rep: Pritzker already ‘gamed the system’ with redistricting

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says Illinois lawmakers will take action if the Indiana legislature votes to redraw congressional maps, but an Illinois Republican says Pritzker has already gamed the system.

The Indiana Senate is expected to vote Thursday afternoon on a redistricting measure already approved by the Indiana House. Several senators spoke on both sides of the issue during Wednesday’s Senate meeting, but it is unclear if the measure has enough votes to pass.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker was asked about the issue at a press conference in Chicago Tuesday and first directed criticism at President Donald Trump, who pushed for Indiana to redraw its maps.

“Members of the Indiana legislature are being threatened. Their lives are being threatened, and it’s being egged on by the president of the United States,” Pritzker said.

Pritzker expressed hope that the Hoosier State’s redistricting effort would be defeated

“I know that there are a number of good and loyal and patriotic Americans that are Republicans, part of that legislature who have been outspoken in opposition to what the president is trying to do. Remember, he’s trying to cheat,” Pritzker said.

If the measure passes, however, Pritzker said the Illinois legislature is ready to respond.

“I will be clear to the folks in Indiana that we won’t stand idly by. We’ll see whether we need to take action or not, but we won’t stand idly by,” Pritzker said.

Republican state Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, said Wednesday that Pritzker is the governor who said he would never sign a partisan map.

“I find it very interesting he’s pointing fingers and claiming that others are now trying to game the system that he already gamed about as far as you can get it,” Ugaste told The Center Square.

Pritzker signed Illinois’ redrawn maps in 2021.

Ugaste said the governor was silent when Republicans sued the State Board of Elections over the gerrymandered maps in Illinois last year.

“If he wants to truly do the people a favor, he will redraw these maps to be fair and not as gerrymandered as they currently are,” Ugaste said.

Last April, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled against the state GOP’s challenge to the maps drawn by Illinois Democrats.

The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which assesses legislative maps around the country using several metrics, gave the Illinois map a failing “F” grade.

Indiana Republican state Sen. Michael Young said he didn’t care how Democrats in any other state drew their districts.

“The Congress left this up to us to make the decision,” Young said Wednesday, adding that federal lawmakers knew in 1804 that there was redistricting going on that was advantageous to one group or another.

Greg Bishop contributed to this story.