The city of St. Charles could be split into two congressional districts, and Republican primary voters in Geneva, Batavia and Kane County's western communities could face a choice in the spring of 2012, under a proposed re-envisioning of Illinois' congressional districts.
Friday, the Democratic leadership of the Illinois State Senate released their proposal to redraw the state's 18 congressional districts.
For the previous decade, Illinois had sent 19 representatives to the U.S. House of Representatives. But Illinois' population did not grow fast enough compared to other states in the past 10 years.
So, after the 2010 Census, Illinois was forced to reduce its congressional districts by one.
This opened an opportunity for the Democrats who control the Illinois General Assembly to carve up the districts that cover the suburbs in new and inventive ways.
Under the map released Friday, all of the congressional representatives from the suburbs would face starkly different districts in 2012.
Illinois' 6th Congressional District, which is now represented by U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Wheaton, would be redrawn to include portions of DuPage, Kane, McHenry, Cook and Lake counties.
The district would sweep into Kane County from DuPage and include much of northern and eastern sections of the city of St. Charles, as well as South Elgin and, to the north, communities including Sleepy Hollow, West Dundee, Algonquin and Lake in the Hills.
Illinois' 14th Congressional District also would be revised and compacted. Gone are the portions of the district that stretched west into mostly rural counties, running almost to the Mississippi River. Instead, the district now includes western and central Kane County, much of Kendall County, eastern DeKalb County, much of McHenry County and portions of Lake, DuPage and Will counties.
Kane County communities that would be included in the 14th District include Geneva, Batavia, western and southern portions of St. Charles, Elburn, Sugar Grove, Campton Hills, Maple Park, Hampshire and Gilberts. However, the district juts slightly into DuPage County, just far enough east to incorporate the Winfield home of U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Winfield. In fact, should the map released Friday be the final map approved by the General Assembly, Hultgren's home would be a short walk from the line dividing the 14th District from the 6th District.
The new 14th District, however, also includes the McHenry County home of U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, R-McHenry, who now represents the 8th Congressional District.
And that could set up an interesting battle in the 2012 Republican primary in the 14th District between Hultgren and Walsh, two freshman congressmen who received strong support from the Tea Party movement en route to wins in 2010 when they unseated incumbent Democratic representatives Bill Foster in the 14th District and Melissa Bean in the 8th District.
Other portions of Kane County also would be partitioned into new districts, as well. Aurora and North Aurora would be included in a redrawn 11th Congressional District that would sweep through Naperville and then zig-zag sough through Will County to include Plainfield and Joliet.
The 11th District is now represented by U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Manteno. However, his hometown was carved out of the new proposed 11th District and into the 2nd Congressional District, which is represented by U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Chicago.
And in northern Kane County, much of the city of Elgin and villages of Carpentersville and East Dundee would be drawn into a new 8th Congressional District that would also include much of northwest suburban Cook County and northern DuPage County.
Candidates for Congress are not required to live in the district they represent. However, representatives that run for Congress from outside the district they are seeking to represent could risk accusations of carpetbagging by their opponents, complicating their campaign efforts.
Democratic leadership in the General Assembly could schedule a vote on the map as soon as next week.
The Republicans of Illinois' congressional delegation released a joint statement in response to the proposed redistricting map Friday. The statement, signed by, among others, Hultgren, Walsh, Roskam and Kinzinger, criticized the map proposal.
They said the map, which was drafted "under the cover of darkness," doesn't represent the "significant growth" of the region's Hispanic population, and the map "carves up towns and communities with little regard to the values and beliefs of the people who live there."
"This proposal appears to be little more than an attempt to undo the results of the elections held just six months ago and we will take whatever steps necessary to achieve a map that more fairly represents the people of Illinois," they said in the statement.
Local leaders said they were not surprised at the map.
St. Charles Mayor Don DeWitte said he was expecting Springfield Democrats to move to "dilute the Republican base" in central Kane County.
He said he would prefer for St. Charles to remain in one congressional district, instead of being divided into two.
"When you're dealing with specific issues and needs, the less number of people you have to deal with, the easier it is to communicate," DeWitte said. "Dealing with multiple legislators is always more difficult.
"But we have no control over any of this, and we will do what we need to do."
