South Central Reporter

State Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) applauded the federal court ruling that the legislative maps Gov. J.B. Pritzker enacted in June are illegal and those challenging the boundaries can offer fixes.  

Democrats passed new legislative boundaries in May and the governor signed them into law before the final U.S. Census data was released. Republicans and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) sued in federal court, arguing the maps were based on estimates and not properly proportioned.

Plummer was happy with the decision. “Big win for Illinoisans across the political spectrum,” he wrote on Facebook. “Their voices will now be heard instead of ignored by the majority party. The Democrat majority was proven by a 3-judge federal panel to have intentionally neglected the citizens and avoided an independent commission in this naked power grab.”

The court order called both sides to reach an agreement based on the U.S. Census data. “The General Assembly must have been well aware of the infirmities in the prior map at the time that it met to draw a new version; indeed, the one likely was the impetus for the other,” the court’s order said. “Mindful of the relatively rare opportunity for a ‘do-over,’ the court urged the General Assembly to consider the Plaintiffs’ input.”

Plummer has been a frequent critic of the Democrats' redistricting process. 

“You know the last round of hearings we had were basically boycotted by everyone in the state of Illinois essentially because no one trusts the committee, and they're kind of sick and tired of being fed false information, so I fully appreciate that you might trust the committee but really no one else does,” Plummer told Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez during an Oct. 8 Senate Redistricting Committee hearing on the subject of congressional maps. “So my question would be, not how much would you need but since you've gone through this process in the past what do you think is a reasonable amount of time between when maps are unveiled for the public to see and a vote would take place on the Senate?”

And in August, he pushed back against Pritzker's COVID-19 mandates.

"Schools, first responders, small businesses, hospitals and many others have been put in difficult spots but, working together, Illinoisans have done their best during this unprecedented pandemic,” Plummer posted on Facebook. “It is time the state steps up and enacts liability protections to make sure it is not open season on these hardworking people who have stepped up for their neighbors.”