There is little enthusiasm among Democrats in Illinois to redraw the state's congressional districts, despite pressure from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., to do so, Capitol News Illinois reports.
"I think there is next to zero appetite to do it," one House Democrat told the news outlet.
Another added that "there is no world where I see this happening."
Jeffries has actively engaged in discussions about Illinois' congressional map. In October, he met via Zoom with Democratic lawmakers in the state to talk about redistricting strategies, including potentially gaining a Democratic seat there.
His effort is part of Democrats' broader national strategy to counteract Republican-led redistricting and to maximize seats in Congress ahead of major elections.
"The stakes are high for the people of Illinois, California, New York," Jeffries said in Springfield, Illinois, a few weeks ago.
"There's a reason Trump has ordered Republicans to engage in mid-decade gerrymandering — it's because he wants to rig the midterms. Democrats will respond in self-defense of the American people," he said.
But Jeffries has faced pushback from some Illinois Democrats who worry that changing district lines might weaken their own secure districts or dilute representation for Black communities, Yahoo News reported.
"We're going to fight back," congressional candidate and state Sen. Willie Preston, D-Chicago, the Senate chair of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, told Punchbowl News on Wednesday. "We just won't do so at the expense of our own power."
The push to redraw is time-sensitive: Illinois' candidate filing deadline for the March primary is Nov. 3, and any new map would need to be completed soon to take effect.
Jeffries' involvement underscores how national-level political strategy is influencing what has traditionally been a state-controlled process.
Still, there doesn't seem to be any movement.
John Patterson, a spokesperson for Senate President Don Harmon, told Capitol News Illinois they "understand why this conversation continues," but that "there's no plan, and we've seen no maps."
Delores Walton, press secretary for Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Welch, told the news outlet that "there are no substantive plans to pass a new congressional map, and House Democrats have taken no steps to draw any new maps."
She added, however, that "all options must remain on the table."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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