New congressional map squeezes suburban GOP

As it stands right now, Republicans hold all but one of the congressional seats in the Northwest suburbs.

Aiming to make such a ratio more difficult come 2012 and beyond, Democrats in Springfield on Friday released a set of proposed political boundaries that shakes things up considerably for suburban Republicans.

And yet it gives the West and Northwest suburban area as a whole one more seat in Congress — going from six to seven, despite the fact that Illinois as a whole is losing one seat due to population shifts.

The plan draws four current lawmakers together in two different districts. Rep. Randy Hultgren, a Wheaton Republican who defeated first-term Democrat Bill Foster in November, would be matched up with 8th District Rep. Joe Walsh — a tea party freshman who defeated three-term Democrat Melissa Bean of Barrington by 291 votes in November.

And Republican 10th District Rep. Robert Dold of Kenilworth would be in the same district with 9th District Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Evanston Democrat.

Congressmen are not required by law to live in the districts they represent (unlike members of the Illinois General Assembly), but it's generally tougher to run for office in a district that way.

The Illinois GOP soundly criticized the plan, one it says was drawn up in the dark and without outside input. The party is calling for Gov. Pat Quinn to intervene.

If he doesn't, Republican spokesman Jonathan Blessing said the party may challenge the map in court. The Illinois GOP earlier this month filed a suit challenging the constitutionality of the tiebreaking provision of the redistricting process.

“At the end of the day, we are a victim. Democrats control this process,” Blessing said.

The proposed map would mold almost every suburban congressional district into a new shape, as part of the revamping of political lines that's done every decade to reflect population changes documented in the new Census.

While the state would lose a congressional seat, the suburbs would gain collective strength, according to the proposal. There would be a total of seven congressional districts in Northwest suburban Cook, McHenry, Lake, DuPage and Kane counties, up from the current six.

The 10th District, which includes portions of Cook and Lake Counties, now would extend further west to the McHenry County border.

The 6th Congressional District — held by Wheaton Republican Peter Roskam since 2006 — would lose portions of Elk Grove Township and pick up parts of Elgin.

Republican 13th District Rep. Judy Biggert of Hinsdale would see her current district carved up five different ways, with parts of it being redrawn into the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 11th and 14th districts. The new district she now resides in is largely considered to be more Democratic leaning.

“Representative Biggert does not believe that the map will stand, and she has no intention of retiring,” spokesman Zachary Cikanek said.

The 14th District would lose much of its western border, stopping in DeKalb instead of the Quad-Cities, and would extend further south into Kendall County.

Walsh, Hultgren and Roskam declined to comment.

But collectively, 11 Republican members, six of whom hail from the suburbs, issued a statement decrying the map that they say “carves up towns and communities with little regard to the values and beliefs of the people who live there” and doesn't adequately represent Hispanic population growth.

Sen. Mark Kirk, who as a statewide officer is not affected by the boundary changes, said the new “map was gerrymandered to ensure suburban voters will have little voice in Congress.”

Jim Oberweis, Republican state central committeeman for the 14th District, said he was still trying to understand the Democratic strategy behind the map.

“At first glance it almost seems a bit less (gerrymandered) than in past years. ... I'm assuming this is better.”

Last month, DCCC Chair Steve Israel called the suburbs the “epicenter” of the 2012 election — with the party eyeing several suburban seats to “take back” in 18 months.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokeswoman Haley Morris said Friday that “the draft map has additional competitive seats.”

Yet Oberweis said the new boundaries don't “change anything from my viewpoint. We want to do the best we can to elect suburban Republicans.”

The congressional map is the last map proposal to be released, in addition to state House and Senate maps. Lawmakers are expected to vote on the proposals in the coming days. If approved, they then head to Quinn's desk for action.

“At this point the map is under review,” Quinn spokeswoman Annie Thompson said. “The governor has said previously that the maps should be fair and should reflect the diversity of our state.”