Illinois Democrats target GOP with redrawing of congressional map

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Chicago Sun-Times:

SPRINGFIELD — In an unmistakable political smack-down, Illinois’ Democratic mapmakers Friday moved to carve up the city and suburbs in a bid to retake a string of congressional seats lost to Republicans last fall.

The series of nips and tucks to the region’s congressional boundaries that were unveiled put four incumbent suburban Republicans into hostile Democratic turf or in potential primaries against one another.

The Democrats also did favors for their own, moving to eliminate a well-funded, possible primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) and extending a finger of the Hispanic district represented by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) to include his new Portage Park home.

The redistricting is designed to reflect population shifts revealed in the Census. As part of that, Illinois is losing on of its 19 congressional seats.

But the reconstituted political map that could be voted on in Springfield this weekend has Republican congressmen now contemplating whether to move, represent their old turf from outside as federal law allows or contemplate retirement from Congress.

The footwork by Springfield’s ruling Democrats produced a predictable outcry from Republicans, who described the congressional redistricting plan as a political sham designed to preserve city congressional seats at the expense of the suburbs.