McHenry Times

Republican state Rep. Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) doesn’t see how voters can put much stock in anything Gov. J.B. Pritzker says moving forward.

“In 2018 candidate Pritzker was clear and unmistakable when he told the people of Illinois that yes he pledged to veto as governor any state legislative redistricting map proposal that is in any way drafted or created by legislators, political party leaders, their staff or allies,” McConchie said during a recent news conference. “Today Gov. Pritzker proved it is unequivocal words mean nothing. More than 75% of the public clearly supports independently drawn legislative maps.”

McConchie says that none of that was enough to stop Pritzker from signing off on what he views as partisan maps drawn by Democrats with the goal of keeping their power base intact.

Pritzker approved the new legislation after hours earlier claiming he had not a chance to review the maps that critics charge Democrats had crafted in secret. He signed off on three maps, outlining new boundaries for districts for the General Assembly, the Illinois Supreme Court and the Cook County Board of Review.

The maps will now define legislative districts for the next ten years.

“It appears candidate Pritzker was only saying what he thought he needed to do to get elected,” McConchie said. “This is a blatant effort to kill democracy in Illinois and it will not go unanswered. We will use every tool at our disposal to return power to the people once again and make sure that the governor pays the political price for lying to the people of Illinois.”

In a statement, Pritzker said he is satisfied the maps do what they need to in terms of keeping elections fair and communities adequately represented across the state. Democratic House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch has also defended the governor’s actions as a “win for the people of this great state.”

Facing a June 30 deadline, Democrats muscled the maps through both chambers earlier this month following hearings. Had they failed to pass maps by the end of the month, the state constitution would have called for the creation of an eight-person bipartisan panel to take over the job.

McConchie said he’s hoping the governor’s actions tell voters everything they need to know about his politics.

“He pretended to be a reformer but he's just proved he's more of the same: a politician who will do anything to get elected, get power and get your money."