McHenry Times

Republican frustration continues now that Democrats have passed a draft of the new legislative districts, a task which must be done every 10 years following the release of U.S. Census data.

In a May 28 Illinois Senate Republican Caucus video, Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) said the new maps "completely violate the promise that the governor made."

"If [Gov. J.B. Pritzker] signs this map he has lied to the people of Illinois," McConchie said. 

The senator called on Pritzker to embrace his campaign promises once again and honor his vow to veto a map drawn by politicians. 

"Gov. Pritzker needs to honor his promise and veto this map," McConchie said. "[...] He needs to re-embrace candidate Pritzker for the people once again."

McConchie has been vocal on the front-and-center issue of redistricting for months. In earlier Lake County Gazette reporting, the minority leader challenged Pritzker to honor his redistricting promise. 

“It is time that Gov. Pritzker kept his promise he has made over and over to the people of Illinois and that promise is to support an independent map process for redistricting,” McConchie said during a recent press conference posted to YouTube. “As a candidate, he told voters that he would support an independent commission, not incumbent politicians to draw legislative boundaries.”

"Every Illinoisan deserves to be represented in our democracy," McConchie recently said, according to McHenry Times. “An independent map drawn by the people for the people and not by politicians for politicians is really the best way to have their voices heard.”

A final map must be approved by the governor by the end of this month if the Democratic majority wants to avoid maps being drawn by a bipartisan independent redistricting commission.

McConchie filed Senate Bill 1350 back in February, legislation that aimed to address longstanding ethics issues in Springfield. The bill which would have amended the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act stalled in the Senate in March.