SPRINGFIELD – Two elections have come and gone since the Illinois General Assembly passed new legislative maps, and Democrats’ attorneys argue in a new court filing that Illinois Republicans have lost their opportunity to challenge the maps in court.
A case brought to the Illinois Supreme Court by House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, asked the court to reject the current legislative map for its partisan bias and have a special master redraw the districts. But it is not yet known whether the court will take the case.
McCombie along with four voters, alleged the voting district maps are not “compact,” a requirement of the state constitution, which has led to allegations of gerrymandering in favor of Democrats.
While the court hasn’t yet said whether it will hear the case, it did ask both parties to explain whether McCombie and the other plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in a timely manner, a factor to be considered in deciding whether to take the case.
The Senate Republican caucus is not involved in the case.
A lawsuit from multiple parties challenging the map was rejected in 2021 by a federal three-judge panel, which rejected arguments that the map diluted the voting strength of racial minorities. However, Republicans’ lawyers argue new data from the 2022 and 2024 elections prove the map is the product of partisan gerrymandering.
Read more: House Republicans ask state Supreme Court to toss out legislative maps
The Illinois Attorney General’s Office on behalf of the State Board of Elections said in a filing it isn’t taking a position on the complaint’s timeliness. However, the court allowed House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, and Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, to intervene as defendants.
Leading the case for General Assembly Democrats are three well-connected attorneys in Democratic circles, including Mike Kasper. Kasper is a long-time elections lawyer who previously worked as a top attorney for the Democratic Party of Illinois and was former House Speaker Mike Madigan’s go-to lawyer for political issues.
Kasper, who was described by Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, at a Statehouse news conference last week as “Darth Vader himself, Madigan’s henchman, the prince of darkness,” has successfully defended previous legislative maps against lawsuits.
“To allow plaintiffs to proceed now, mid-decade, with their proposed redistricting challenge would invite political parties to wait until they have a wave election and use their best election results to justify a partisan challenge to the legislative map,” the Democrats’ lawyers said in their filing.
The current state House and Senate maps were passed in 2021 and implemented in 2022 following the 2020 census. Republicans have not gained any seats in the General Assembly since then, keeping them as the minority.
A lawsuit by Illinois House Republicans identifies 52 House districts Republicans allege are less compact than a House district the Illinois Supreme Court invalidated in 1981. (Provided by Illinois House Republicans)
Republicans and supporters of redistricting reform in Illinois haven’t had much success in court in recent decades. The Illinois Supreme Court blocked a 2016 citizen-driven referendum attempting to create an independent redistricting commission. The lead plaintiff in that case was John Hooker, a now-convicted conspirator in the “ComEd Four” case.
Other Republican efforts to throw out the 2011 legislative maps were also rejected by the courts.
Lawyers for Welch and Harmon said in a March 19 filing Republicans should have filed their lawsuit with the Illinois Supreme Court after the maps were enacted in 2021 instead of filing it more than three years later.
“These arguments could have, and should have, been raised years ago. Plaintiffs cannot claim they did not know about the map,” Democrats’ lawyers argued in a written brief.
They cited claims Republican lawmakers made during House debate on the maps in 2021 based on data Republicans shared showing the maps were not compact and drawn for Democrats’ benefit.
McCombie’s lawyers responded that they were following their interpretation of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that would require data from two election cycles to show any discriminatory effect caused by gerrymandering.
Her lawyers said Democrats were putting them in a “catch-22” situation, comparing it to a “heads I win, tails you lose” game.
“If a plaintiff brings a gerrymandering challenge right after a map is passed, then Intervenors would argue that the claim should fail on the merits because of insufficient evidence of the map’s effects,” McCombie’s lawyers wrote. “And if a plaintiff waits to collect evidence of the map’s effects, Intervenors would argue that the claim should fail procedurally.”
Republicans’ lawyers argued that the 2024 election was the last time the district map was used, meaning there’s a recent “injury” to voters and Republicans, which could also satisfy timeliness requirements. They also cite a common law doctrine which says the government generally isn’t subject to statutes of limitations.
Democrats also argued any redistricting the court might order would interfere with the Senate’s staggered terms. Illinois senators have terms of either two or four years so the entire body is not up for reelection at the same time.
Democrats’ lawyers argued senators elected in 2024 could have the four-year term they were elected to wrongfully reduced.
McCombie’s lawyers rejected that idea citing case law in which redistricting still allowed representatives to finish out the term for which they were elected, and that a mapmaker could separately be directed to not unseat any senators when redrawing districts.
McCombie has requested oral arguments for the suit, but the court has yet to say what the next steps will be in the case.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
