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CHICAGO - Illinois state lawmakers will not vote on redrawing existing congressional maps during the current veto session in Springfield, despite talk of countering Republican efforts to squeeze out more GOP-held seats in other states ahead of the midterm elections.
What we know:
A spokesperson for House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch (D-Hillside) said his caucus would not be passing any map this week, but that "all options remain on the table."
A spokesperson for Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) also confirmed a remap is "not something we're considering this week."
With the veto session scheduled to end this week, there would be a potentially tight timeline to redraw congressional districts ahead of the midterm elections. That’s because candidates for Congress are filing their paperwork to get on the ballot this week, and the primary Election Day is set for March 17.
Why redraw Illinois congressional districts?
The backstory:
The push for redrawing congressional districts in Illinois comes as Texas lawmakers approved new maps intended to expand the number of U.S. House seats that could be won by Republicans.
Similar efforts are underway in GOP-friendly states like Indiana. It’s an unusual move as legislative districts are typically redrawn the year after a census is taken to account for population changes. So the last time Illinois redrew its map was in 2021 after the 2020 census.
Republicans are trying to ensure that they retain control of the House of Representatives, which the GOP narrowly controls 219-213. The 2026 election is potentially pivotal because in recent history, the party that loses a presidential election, in this case the Democrats, tends to win control of the House two years later.
With such narrow margins, Democrats hope to squeeze one more seat out of Illinois, where they already control 14 seats to Republicans’ three.
Just this week, one prominent national Democrat, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), traveled to Illinois to argue for state lawmakers to help ensure that the congressional map is "as fair as it could possibly be" for the 2026 contest.
Jeffries cited a ballot measure in California asking voters to allow for a temporary redrawing of congressional districts there. If voters approve Proposition 50, that would allow California state lawmakers to approve new U.S. House districts, but only for the next three election cycles. The state currently has an independent redistricting process, which would resume in 2031, after the next census, if the ballot measure is approved.
When might the districts be redrawn?
What we don't know:
It’s unclear when state lawmakers would actually vote on a new map.
Gov. JB Pritzker said this week that a vote on redistricting didn’t have to happen this week.
"It could happen after that, but right now I think there’s just a lot of conversation going on," Pritzker said.
Elected officials have not specified when a vote could take place. The governor could call a special session before the new year, similar to Indiana Gov. Mike Braun.
If not, a new legislative session typically starts in early January, but that would only leave a matter of weeks before early voting starts ahead of the March 17 primary election.