SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Democrats will regroup to consider joining the escalating, nationwide redistricting fight with Republican-led states that are moving to gerrymander congressional districts at the request of President Donald Trump, legislative leaders said Tuesday.
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and state Senate President Don Harmon told their respective Democratic supermajority caucuses that the controversial remap effort championed by U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries won’t get a vote in Springfield this week as state legislators wrap up their fall veto session.
That means Gov. JB Pritzker would have to call lawmakers back to the state Capitol later this year or wait until their usual session early next year for Democrats to potentially change an already heavily gerrymandered Illinois congressional map that has them outnumbering Republicans 14-3. A proposed map hasn’t been released, but Dems think they can redraw the lines to create a 15th favorable district.
Jeffries traveled to Illinois Monday to nudge state lawmakers toward a remap, which is usually only done at the turn of a decade. Because Dems control all statewide levers in Springfield, national party leaders view Illinois as one of their best bets to wring another blue district away from Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.
Republican-controlled legislatures in Texas, North Caroline and Missouri have altered their maps to favor the GOP, which holds a slim majority, to advance Trump’s agenda in the U.S. House. Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Braun announced his state would pursue it in a special session next week — which top Illinois Democrats have said would trigger them to act.
Jeffries said any potential Illinois redistricting wouldn’t necessarily need to be approved this week, but the clock is ticking. Candidates started filing petition signatures this week to appear on the ballot for the Illinois March 17, 2026, primary election. It’s not clear how Democrats would solve the procedural riddle of changing districts once ballots are finalized, but it would have to clear the General Assembly.
Pritzker, Welch and Harmon have signaled they’re open to joining the remap fray, but some Black state lawmakers have said they’d be dead-set against any map that would dilute Black representation in the congressional delegation.
“What Donald Trump is trying to do is call state Republican governors and Republican legislators and get them to cheat on his behalf for the ‘26 elections,” Pritzker said. “If Donald Trump continues to do what he’s doing across the country in Republican states, it is very hard for Democrats to just sit back and watch him cheat and make it near impossible in 2026 for the voters to actually have their say in terms of picking the Congress that they want, so we have to consider all options if he continues to do what he’s doing.”
Illinois Republicans have slammed the idea. State Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, said Democrats would be trying to “change the rules of the game after the game.”
“For three months we’ve had an opportunity for people to sign petitions for a known and set geography — again, a geography that was designed and perfected by Democrats to maximize their political grip on power in the state of Illinois,” Spain said.