Lawmakers send political map to Quinn

SPRINGFIELD — Lawmakers Friday sent Gov. Pat Quinn a new legislative political map that could largely shape who wins the 2012 elections in the suburbs and who controls all of state government for the next 10 years.

Democrats drew a map of districts for state lawmakers that will pit a number of suburban Republicans against each other in primary elections next year, or force some incumbents to either move or retire to avoid a fierce ballot battle.

Those district lines could help Democrats keep control of the House and Senate for the next 10 years, as they have for the last 10 since they last drew the map.

The map would force GOP lawmakers into tough positions. For example, Reps. Dennis Reboletti of Elmhurst, Chris Nybo of Elmhurst and Patti Bellock of Hinsdale would live in the same district.

It could also force Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno to run against freshman Sen. Ron Sandack of Downers Grove if both want to keep their current jobs.

Those kinds of pairings will free up districts where no incumbent currently lives, setting up often hotly contested campaigns where Democrats could try to grow their majorities in both the House and Senate.

Both of those chambers approved the map Friday, despite Republican objections that the public hadn’t had enough time to fully digest the complicated political procedure.

“I think the public has been left on the short end of this process,” said Rep. Mike Fortner, a West Chicago Republican and the party’s point-man on mapmaking.

Democrats, though, said lawmakers had hearings about it and made the proposal available online.

“I think the process is free and fair,” said Democratic Rep. Michael Noland of Elgin. “We had full opportunity for questions and answers. ... I think the public has had an opportunity to be heard, we’ve taken their concerns into consideration.”

Responding to Hinsdale Sen. Kirk Dillard’s charge that the Memorial Day weekend was a time when the public would too be distracted to pay much attention to the process, Noland said, “I think it’s grandstanding, and you expect that.”

“We’re the party in charge, we’re the ones who have the opportunity to control the process. I’m sensitive to their feelings. We’ve asked them to offer amendments. We’ve had this map out for public consumption in the past and there’s been full opportunity for everyone to offer comments.”

In hearings and on the chamber floors, Republicans peppered Democrats with detailed legal questions about the map. Republicans argued Democrats drew the map solely to advance their election chances in the coming years and didn’t create enough Hispanic-friendly districts as federal law requires.

Those kinds of questions asked during debate could help plant seeds to bolster the GOP’s nearly inevitable legal challenge of the Democrats’ plan. But past legal challenges to maps in Illinois have been generally unsuccessful.

The redistricting process comes up every 10 years, when lawmakers divvy the state up based on new census data.

The House approved the plan by a 64-52, party-line vote, and the Senate also broke along party lines, 35-22.

Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, gets final say on the map.

Even though the proposal has been widely available online this week, Quinn said he couldn’t commit to approving the map because he hadn’t seen it yet.

“I haven’t seen the final proposals, they have to be voted on and debated by the legislature,” Quinn said. “When that happens I’ve said over and over it’s got to be fair.”

Daily Herald Staff Writers Jeff Engelhardt and Kerry Lester contributed.