House Democrats Stick Republicans in Multiple Primaries Under New Maps
Four conservative House Republicans were drawn into the same district under the proposed new legislative maps released Friday.
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House Democrats Friday night released new legislative maps that would put nearly half of Republican House members into primaries against each other.
Democrats released vague PDF files of the new proposal Friday night and followed up with more detailed Google Maps files Sunday.
Here is a breakdown of some of the potential member vs. member primaries:
The pièce de résistance, though, is the four-way primary between four conservative “Eastern Bloc” allies. Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur), Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville), Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich), and Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City) have all been packed into the new 107th district. It includes Decatur to the north, and a southern boundary on the Effingham/Clay County line. If one were to run for Senate, they would likely face incumbent Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield). Wilhour and Niemerg could theoretically move south into the open 110th district.
Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) and Rep. Seth Lewis (R-Bartlett) are paired in the new 47th district. Lewis took out a well-liked Democrat last year and Grant made some racially charged remarks about her Black opponent that surely stuck with Speaker Welch and other prominent Black Democrats.
Rep. Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego) and Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) are drawn together in the new 50th district. It appears the new district takes up a lot more of Wheeler’s current Oswego-based district. Ugaste would have the ability to move into the new 65th district, as there’s no incumbent there, if he wanted to. Wheeler could also potentially be courted to challenge Sen. Linda Holmes (D-Aurora), who doesn’t appear to have a super strong district for a long term incumbent.
Rep. Chris Bos (R-Lake Zurich) and Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) would potentially face off in the new 51st district. Bos surprisingly took out Democrat freshman Mary Edly-Allen last year and Morrison is an uber conservative who only won his race by a handful of votes in 2018. He did fare better last year, though. There is an open seat bordering Morrison, but he likely wouldn’t have an easy time winning the less conservative Palatine-Arlington Heights district.
Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford) and Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) are together in the new 69th district. Democrats appear to have gone out of their way to stick it to these two Republicans. They carved Sosnowski (and Sen. Dave Syverson) out of Rockford and all the way south to nearly LaSalle-Peru. Keicher loses DeKalb to Rep. Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa), who lives in LaSalle County. Keicher could move to the southeast side of town or just south and run in the new 70th district, which has a bunch of his current district and no incumbent.
Rep. Keith Sommer (R-Mackinaw) and Rep. Mark Luft (R-Pekin) are paired in the new 87th district. Sommer is 74 and was talking about calling it quits in the remap ten years ago. Luft was just elected last year and is the Mayor of Pekin. Sommer has most of the current territory as it runs east from Peoria. Luft’s current district runs west. The Illinoize didn’t hear back from Sommer about his plans Sunday.
Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) and Rep. Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) are drawn together in the new 90th district. This has the potential to be an ugly barnburner of a primary. Both are young (McCombie is 38 and Chesney is 39), ambitious, and both are raring for a fight most of the time. McCombie led the House GOP campaign arm last year then challenged Jim Durkin for Leader. Chesney has been one of the more outspoken Trump-style legislators since taking office in 2019. Keep an eye on this one.
Rep. Randy Frese (R-Paloma) and Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Jacksonville) would potentially face off in the new 99th district. The district is seemingly specifically drawn to connect Frese’s home near Quincy with Davidsmeyer’s home in Jacksonville, about 80 miles away.
Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville) and Rep. Mike Murphy (R-Springfield) may be forced to face off in the new 108th. Democrats specifically kept Bourne away from appointed Senator Doris Turner (D-Springfield) as Bourne would be one of the top recruits for the GOP. This is complicated because Murphy’s family and Bourne’s family are close. When we talked to Murphy yesterday, he said he’s not worried about it because he doesn’t think the maps are final.
Rep. Charlie Meier (R-Okawville) and Rep. David Friess (R-Red Bud) are together in the new 115th district. Friess just had a top tier race where he took out former Rep. Nathan Reitz, a well-known name in the area, by about 30 percentage points. The new district has a bunch of the area Friess just worked very hard. Meier is a super likeable guy, but would probably admit he hasn’t had a tough race in a few years.
Both Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) and Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) were drawn into the new 55th district, but Bailey is running for Governor.
“Democrats used an "etch-a-sketch" to draw these lines,” complained House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), who blasted the maps Monday morning.
Democrats haven’t released the data sources for the new maps and have scheduled four hearings in Springfield Tuesday and Wednesday, likely in an effort to advance the maps through the legislature before the weekend.