Illinois to Lose Congressional Seat With Census Count

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 21, 2010 5:48PM

The Census Bureau is set to announce its population counts today which, by all accounts, doesn't bode well for Illinois' Congressional delegation and the seats the GOP picked up in the November elections.

The number of congressional districts could be reduced by one in Illinois, to 18, if projections for Illinois' population counts hold. It's good news for the state Democrats who get to redraw the congressional districts to account for the drop in population. For Republicans, it means someone might be in danger of losing a seat.

The congressmen that could be most vulnerable are the newly elected Joe Walsh, Bob Dold, Adam Kinzinger, and Bobby Schilling. Expect some jockeying for position between incumbent congressmen who would be looking to enhance their political viability with a redistricting.

The General Assembly won't start the process of redistricting until the official numbers are released by the Census Bureau in February. Besides the congressional districts, they'll also have to redraw maps for state legislative, city and judicial districts. If they can't agree on a plan, the redistricting gets kicked over to a commission to sort out.