A southern Illinois lawmaker says he is frustrated and disappointed the state Supreme Court tossed out a lawsuit filed by House Republican Leader Tony McCombie to deal with heavily gerrymandered legislative district maps.
State Representative Patrick Windhorst from Metropolis says the Illinois Supreme Court ruled House Republicans had waited too long to file their lawsuit challenging the maps.
"House Republicans waited the requisite amount of time and collected the required data to present to the Supreme Court, arguing that the maps drawn during the 2022 redistricting process were too heavily weighted in favor of Illinois Democrats," Windhorst said. "I believe the maps were drawn specifically to keep the Democratic Party in power and prevent voters of the minority party from having their voice heard in the legislature.”
Windhorst says he agrees with the dissent written by Supreme Court Justice David Overstreet, citing pre-2019 federal precedent that requires data gathering from two election cycles. The court called that *unpersuasive.*
Windhorst pointed out that House Republicans have filed House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 5, which would establish a remap commission made up of individuals from both political parties.
"I favor an equally weighted bipartisan commission being in charge of drawing Illinois' legislative district maps, and I reject the idea that our legislative maps are best drawn by politicians or by one political party," Windhorst said. "We've done this the wrong way for decades, and I am profoundly disappointed and frustrated by today's ruling that ends Illinoisans' chance to be fairly represented."
