Illinois’ Democratic congressional delegation urged the state legislature on Tuesday to consider implementing a new House map as both parties ramp up efforts to redraw their congressional lines ahead of the 2026 midterms.
“Donald Trump and House Republicans have concluded that the only way to keep their weak majority is by stealing congressional seats in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Indiana, and elsewhere. We have been left with no other option and will not sit idly by as MAGA extremists attempt to rig the 2026 congressional elections,” the delegation said in a statement issued through the House Democrats’ campaign arm.
“It falls to the Land of Lincoln to counter an out-of-control Trump Administration that is failing to lower costs, decimating the health care of the American people, and attempting to deploy armed troops to our state,” they said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) traveled to the Prairie State on Monday to meet with top state lawmakers over passing a new House map. Illinois Sen. Willie Preston (D), the chair of the Illinois Senate Black Caucus, has made clear he won’t support a new map that dilutes Black representation in the state. Preston is running for Rep. Robin Kelly’s (D-Ill.) seat in Congress while Kelly vies for the open Senate seat.
The executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Julie Merz, said in a separate statement issued on Tuesday that Democrats have already filed a new map for consideration that would address lawmakers’ concerns over representation among communities of color.
“Last week, a proposed congressional map was submitted to state legislative leaders in Illinois for their consideration,” she said. “Importantly, the map preserves Black and Hispanic representation in key districts across the state, is [Voting Rights Act] compliant, and keeps together communities of interest.”
“It’s clear that Trump and Republicans are weaponizing mid-decade redistricting in order to prevent a check on their administration and the substantive damage they have already inflicted on the American people,” she continued. “Our democracy is at stake, which is why Springfield must act with haste to preserve it.”
The redistricting wars are heating up as Republicans move forward with drawing new maps in North Carolina and potentially Indiana, while other GOP states like Kansas mull drawing their own congressional lines amid pressure from the White House and national Republicans.
Meanwhile, Democrats in Virginia are convening to consider redistricting while a lawsuit in New York that looks to scrap the congressional lines there over a Republican House seat could give the party a potential pickup opportunity in the Empire State.
California voters are also heading to the polls next week to weigh in on a Democratic-friendly House map that could give the party a handful of pickup opportunities next year.