Springfield Dems Move Forward With Redistricting

By Staff in News on May 25, 2011 7:21PM

House Democrats moved their redistricting plan forward yesterday to the House floor in a 6 to 5 vote from the House Redistricting Committee, despite opposition from some Latino advocacy groups. According to the Tribune, last week’s proposed map would combine 39 House and Senate seats with a majority of black or Latino residents. Democrats hope to push the redistricting plan through by the end of the month.

The Sun-Times reports the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund opposed the redistricting measure and has sued in federal court to block proposals across the country. They argue that the new maps would split Latino communities in Chicago and make it more difficult to elect more Latinos to the legislature. Republicans also oppose the new maps, citing concerns that over a third of GOP legislators were placed in the same districts.