Pritzker’s Racial Redistricting Scheme Faces Constitutional Showdown in Illinois

Illinois Electoral Maps Under Scrutiny After Louisiana v. Callais

When the current maps were shaped and signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D), he boasted of the racial shape/racial outcome he saw them achieving. He said: [the] “redistricting plans are crafted in a way that preserves clusters of minority voters if they are of size or cohesion to exert collective electoral power.”

The Public Interest Legal Foundation: We’ve filed the first lawsuit following the Louisiana Callais SCOTUS case. Our client alleges the Illinois Voting Rights Act of 2011’s redistricting mandates violate the 15th Amendment and Section 2a of the national Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Public Interest).

Related:

Supreme Court Clears Path for New Electoral Map in Alabama

HUGE: Supreme Court Rules Louisiana’s House Map an ‘Unconstitutional Racial Gerrymander,’ “SNAKED” Across the The State

Virginia Supreme Court Slams Democrats, Strikes Down Redistricting Map

Virginia Circuit Court Rules Redistricting Vote Unconstitutional

A lawsuit has been filed challenging Illinois’ congressional district map over claims it relies on race to shape districts.

The case, brought by a former lawmaker, argues the map violates constitutional standards following a recent Supreme Court ruling on redistricting.

Supporters of the lawsuit say districts were deliberately drawn using racial criteria, while state officials have not commented on the pending case.

The legal challenge adds to ongoing national disputes over how congressional maps are created.

Want to talk gerrymandering?

On the left is how Illinois voters voted in the 2024 Presidential election by precinct

On the right is the same election, broken down by congressional district

Kamala Harris ended up getting all 19 of Illinois's electoral votes 🤡 pic.twitter.com/X8vKVJGakf

— Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) May 2, 2026

Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt: J.B. Pritzker called Callais an “abomination.” No wonder. Illinois built one of the clearest race-based redistricting regimes in the country (Schmitt).

Illinois Democrats are, you can understand why, not particularly interested in moving quickly: In the aftermath of the decision, Illinois State Senate President Don Harmon said a potential constitutional amendment on redistricting in the state will not advance during the current session, giving the state’s legal team time to review the court’s ruling (NBC).

In Illinois in the 2024 election, 54% voted democrat and 43% voted republican.
Illinois has 14 democrats in the US House of Representatives and 3 republicans.
Here is a district in Chicago: pic.twitter.com/iYW9hMH2Hg

— Robert Kuster (@RobertKuster7) May 12, 2026

WATCH: Ex-rep sues Pritzker, Illinois over race-based congressional map

By: Sean Reed, The Center Square, May 13, 2026:

The entrance of the federal court in the Southern District of Illinois is shown in East St. Louis. Photo: Greg Bishop / The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Illinois’ congressional district map is being challenged over what some argue are unconstitutional racial requirements for districts. A former Republican state representative sued Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the State Board of Elections late last week.

Jeanne Ives, a former representative of the state’s 42nd district, brought the case backed by J. Christian Adams, president and general counsel of the Public Interest Legal Foundation.

Filed in the U.S. District Court in the Central District of Illinois, the official complaint claims congressional maps drawn after the 2020 U.S. Census are unconstitutional because the Illinois Voting Rights Act of 2011 mandates the creation of “racial districts.”

Ives told The Center Square Daily that state Democrats have brazenly moved to draw maps based on racial lines.

“It’s very obvious to anybody looking at Illinois maps, and Illinois law, that these districts are in fact – they use race to design the districts and the SCOTUS decision makes it abundantly clear that you just can’t do that anymore,” Ives said.

Ives said a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which determined Louisiana’s district map as unconstitutional because of an over-reliance on race, is what has explicitly made it clear that Illinois’ congressional map as unconstitutional.

“Pritzker went into 2018 promising an independent commission to draw the maps. He comes out of the 2020 census with the most partisan map drawing that literally split precincts,” Ives said.

Adams, serving as legal counsel on the lawsuit, told The Center Square Daily that the goal of their legal challenge is not to remove race entirely from the map drawing process.

“The remedy is to not have explicit racial redistricting criteria. You know, you can still draw districts in the country that have racial outcomes,” Adams said. “Racial districts aren’t per se illegal. What is illegal is having state redistricting criteria that is established ahead of time that says you have to create these racial districts.”

Last year, Republican state lawmakers challenged Illinois’ state legislative map as heavily gerrymandered. The Illinois Supreme Court ultimately dismissed the case on the grounds of timeliness, rather than ruling on whether the map was lawful.

In response to the Louisiana ruling, Illinois State Senate leadership also killed an attempt to amend the state Constitution, which would have further enshrined a requirement for minority-representative districts.

The Center Square contacted the Illinois State Board of Elections for comment, to which a representative said they do not comment on pending litigation, per their protocols.

The governor’s office has not responded to a request for comment.

Adams said that Illinois is the first state he is looking to challenge due to the nature of the maps.

“This was a deliberate effort over the last 15 years to create state laws that use race to allocate power, and Illinois is one of the most brazen and that’s why they’re the first to get sued,” Adams said.

Due to procedural rules, the Board of Elections and Pritzker have three weeks from the filing date to respond to the lawsuit’s claims. Adams said a hearing on the lawsuit will not take place until at least next month.

https://x.com/thecentersquare/status/2054265556425916881?s=20

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