NW Illinois News

Gov. J.B. Pritzker knowingly broke a campaign promise last week when he enacted Illinois' new legislative, judicial and board of review maps that he admitted he hadn't yet entirely reviewed, state Republican lawmakers said.

Sen. Will Stoller (R-Germantown Hills) took to social media the same day to call out the governor.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker | twitter.com/jbpritzker

"Today, Gov. Pritzker completely broke his promise to the people of Illinois by his decision to sign partisan maps drawn by politicians," Stoller said in his June 4 Facebook post. "By signing this map, the Governor has turned his back on over 50 leading government reform and minority advocacy groups as well as 75 percent of Illinois voters who strongly support an independent redistricting process."

When Pritzker was on the campaign trail in his successful run for governor, one of the promises he made was that he would veto any partisan legislative maps. He also called for an independent commission to handle redistricting.

That was then.

Pritzker went back on that promise earlier this month when he enacted the latest round of redistricted maps that were developed by state Democrats meeting behind a closed and locked door.

This year is already was complicated for the redistricting in Illinois because U.S. Census data doesn't expect to issue data upon which the new maps were supposed to be based until September, delayed by COVID, but under Illinois' constitution state lawmakers must pass a new legislative map by June 30. If that hadn't happened, an eight-person bipartisan panel would have been created and, should that group be locked in a tie, Illinois' secretary of state would randomly choose a ninth member to break that tied.

The vast majority of Illinoisans what fair maps.

Illinois' new maps will take effect in 2023.

In a statement issued days before Pritzker enacted the new maps, Stoller also called out Democrat lawmakers over their "inaccurate and partisan legislative maps," then on their way to Pritzker.

"For years, we have heard Democrats talk about their support for a fair redistricting process, but when it came time to actually drawing and passing new legislative maps, they retreated behind closed doors and gerrymandered a highly partisan map," Stoller said in his May 29 statement. "In order to pass a partisan map before June 30, they resorted to using inaccurate data which is opposed by watchdog, good government and minority groups because it will under-represent various areas and groups in our state."

Bryant is far from the only Republican calling out Pritzker for his broken campaign promise.

"Governor Pritzker, you sold out," Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) said in a statement issued the same day Pritzker signed the maps.

"These maps were crafted behind closed doors using incomplete demographic data, and just yesterday (Thursday, June 3) the governor said publicly that he had not yet reviewed the new boundaries," Durkin said in his statement. "Today I joined my Republican colleagues from the House and Senate to remind the governor that words matter and the people of our state deserve better. It's time to throw out the Madigan playbook, end public corruption, and hold politicians accountable in Illinois."