Illinois Democrats use redistricting to dominate
Republican congressional candidate Bobby Schilling is running against two opponents in the November election - one an incumbent congresswoman and the other a map of electoral districts favoring Illinois Democrats.
What happened in Illinois after the decennial census in 2010 is a mirror image of most of the rest of the country, where Republican legislatures doing the map-drawing helped the GOP retain a majority in the House of Representatives despite losing the national popular vote.
With solid majorities in the state House and Senate as well as control of the governor's mansion, the Democrats had complete control over the Illinois redistricting process in 2011. They used it to defeat Schilling and three other Illinois Republican congressmen in 2012, solidifying their vise grip on President Barack Obama's home state.