Marathon Pundit: Illinois GOP group denounces Dems' Gerrymandered remap

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Illinois GOP group denounces Dems' Gerrymandered remap

Democratic Governor Pat Quinn says he wants "fair maps" as Illinois goes through redistricting. The Gerrymandered mess is party drew is anything but fair.

And people are beginning to speak out.

From Crain's Chicago Business:

A group of Republican business leaders and former members of Congress from Illinois is gearing up to challenge the state Legislature's new congressional redistricting map, which heavily favors Democrats.

Led by former U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and former U.S. Rep. Thomas Ewing, fundraising by the Committee for a Fair and Balanced Map has been quietly under way for months, anticipating that Republicans would not fare well in a process steered by a Democratic-controlled Legislature and a Democratic governor.

But the pace is expected to pick up now that the map is out, passed on party-line votes and awaiting the governor's signature. The way the map was redrawn makes it possible that the state's congressional delegation could go from 11 Republicans and eight Democrats to as many as 13 Democrats and five Republicans as the state loses a seat due to the last census.

"Now that we've got a map that's not fair, it will probably take off," said Ronald Gidwitz, a Chicago investor and former CEO of Helene Curtis Industries Inc., who has contributed to the committee but is not otherwise involved.