McHenry Times

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said April 27 that he would not necessarily veto any legislative map not created in an independent process and that he trusted legislators to be fair during the process. 

The governor's comments are a reversal from an earlier campaign promise and have drawn criticisms from Republican legislators who have been pushing legislation to form an independent remapping commission that excluded politicians. 

"[April 27] at an unrelated bill signing the Governor made it clear that he has no intention of keeping his word and vetoing any new legislative map drawn by politicians," Sen. Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry) said in a Facebook post, adding his voice to the critics of Pritzker. 

During his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, Pritzker backed an amendment to the Illinois constitution that would move redistricting authority to an independent commission instead of the state Legislature. 

In the absence of an amendment, Pritzker promised to veto any maps “in any way drafted or created by legislators, political party leaders and/or their staffs or allies”, instead of calling for an independent commission to be created. In his Wednesday reversal, Pritzker said that the state should "look to the Legislature" to determine what maps are fair. 

Illinois will lose one congressional seat based on the latest Census numbers.