McHenry Times

State Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) argues Gov. J.B. Pritzker is becoming memorable for all the wrong reasons.

“Rarely do politicians get the chance to break a campaign promise twice,” McConchie posted on Twitter. “I am deeply disappointed that Gov. Pritzker has turned his back on the many minority organizations that have asked him to protect their voting rights outlined in the constitution and Voting Rights Act by vetoing this gerrymandered map.”

Despite opposition from Republicans and some reform groups, Pritzker in September signed off on revised state legislative maps that were initially passed in August.

Among the groups urging the governor to hold off was CHANGE Illinois, which issued a statement claiming the maps dilute minority voting power.

“Many major groups agree the new maps reduce the numbers of majority Black voting age population districts and majority Latino voting age population districts,” the statement said. “The Latino Policy Forum asked Pritzker to veto the maps for the same reason.”

In a race to meet a June 30 state constitution deadline, lawmakers initially adopted maps during the spring legislative session. Democrats spearheaded the drive despite not yet having U.S. Census bureau data typically relied on for drawing districts.

“The governor has now twice chosen to actively betray the people he said he was elected to protect,” McConchie added. “This choice again proves he is more concerned with protecting the political elite than the people of Illinois.”

 Pritzker’s latest actions come after Democrats called a special session to adjust the maps after official population numbers ultimately showed the variances between districts were far outside what is allowed under U.S. Constitutional law.

The matter is now before the courts with Republicans arguing that the job of map redistricting should be left to a bipartisan commission. The job of redrawing maps comes every 10 years and in times past has been reserved for the party in power.