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Gerrymandering is not good for democracy in general, but Democrats find themselves in a situation where they are potentially adopting the practice to be able to win back power to save democracy.
As California’s new congressional map heads to the voters in November, attention is turning to Illinois. The state is facing a potential invasion of federal law enforcement under the pretense of immigration raids, and also the potential need to redraw its congressional map due to Trump’s attempt to rig the 2026 election.
Gov. JB Pritzker was asked on CBS’s Face The Nation if he would redraw the congressional map in Illinois, and he answered, “That's not something that I want to do. It's not something that any of us want to do. But I have to say if Donald Trump is going to force his will on the American people by going to his MAGA allies in various states and have they having them redraw in the middle of a decade when you're supposed to be doing it right after a census. With a year ending in one, not a year ending in five. If he's gonna do that all over the country, I think all of us have to think about what it is that we can do to counter that.”
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The governor was asked, “What much more could you do though, as an Illinois Democrat? Your map already gets an F for most good government groups for being gerrymandered. Would you wipe out all the Republican districts?”
Gov. Pritzker said, “Yeah. It is possible to have more Democratic districts in the state of Illinois and we could do it. Like I said, it's not something that I want to do.”
JB Pritzker’s tone was correct. No Democratic governor should want to redistrict in the middle of a decade. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom made it clear that his state’s redistricting is being put forward as a response to what Trump and his allies have done in Texas.
No Democrat should be joyfully rushing to redraw the congressional maps in their state, but Trump is desperate to hold onto the Republican House majority, because without it, he becomes a lame duck whose influence immediately wanes.
A Democratic takeover of the House would make Trump the one thing that he fears most. Trump would be irrelevant. The national attention would turn to the 2028 election, and Trump’s presidency would be left to die on the vine with two years to go.
If the California vote is successful, Democrats will have already reduced the number of seats that Republicans could gain through gerrymandering down to 6-8.
It is the right move for Prizker to wait and see what Trump has other red states do before he commits to redrawing the maps.
Redoing the maps isn’t something that Democrats want to do, but they may need to do it to save democracy.
What do you think about Prizker’s answer on redrawing the Illinois congressional map? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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