{"id":2471602,"date":"2025-08-06T16:14:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T20:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-gov-admits-states-congressional-map-looks-like-it-was-drawn-by-a-kindergarten-class\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T16:16:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T20:16:00","slug":"illinois-gov-admits-states-congressional-map-looks-like-it-was-drawn-by-a-kindergarten-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-gov-admits-states-congressional-map-looks-like-it-was-drawn-by-a-kindergarten-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois Gov Admits State&#8217;s Congressional Map Looks Like it Was Drawn by a &#8216;Kindergarten Class&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fillinois-gov-admits-states-congressional-map-looks-like-it-was-drawn-by-a-kindergarten-class%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2471602&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker was challenged on &#8220;The Late Show with Stephen colbert&#8221; to explain the state&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >heavily gerrymandered congressional district map<\/a>, particularly the oddly shaped 17th District. Pritzker joked that the map was drawn by kindergarteners, highlighting the absurdity of the boundaries. While colbert pointed out the bizarre district shapes and questioned if such gerrymandering is common in other states, Pritzker deflected criticism of Illinois&#8217; map by attacking Texas Republicans&#8217; redistricting efforts-accusing them of violating the Voting Rights Act and engaging in racial discrimination. The segment exposed the hypocrisy of Democrats criticizing gerrymandering elsewhere while Illinois Democrats maintain a heavily skewed map that gives them 82% of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-continuous-media-covid-fear-mongering-may-backfire-and-diminish-democrat-voter-turnout\/\" title=\"The Continuous Media COVID Fear Mongering May BACKFIRE and Diminish Democrat Voter Turnout\">congressional seats<\/a> despite being onyl about 34.5% of registered voters. Pritzker avoided addressing illinois&#8217; own partisan map manipulations, and the exchange illustrated why Democrats struggle to credibly oppose gerrymandering.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker was forced to confront the absurdity of his own state&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/experts-give-democrats-f-grade-for-trying-to-further-gerrymander-maryland-congressional-maps\/\" title=\"Experts Give ... \u2018F\u2019 Grade For Trying To Further Gerrymander Maryland Congressional ...s\">gerrymandered congressional map<\/a> on national television.<\/p>\n<p>His explanation? A joke that kindergarteners drew the map.<\/p>\n<p>During a Tuesday appearance in friendly territory on &ldquo;The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,&rdquo; host <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/stephen-colbert-lands-new-gig-pretending-old-job\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stephen Colbert<\/a> pulled up Illinois&rsquo; 17th Congressional District and asked Pritzker to explain its bizarre boundaries.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you are considering doing a little more redrawing in Illinois, you already have some crazy districts,&rdquo; Colbert, to his credit, said. &ldquo;Take a look at this. Look at 17 here. It does that, then it comes up here, and it sneaks around there and goes all the way up here and then goes right over there like that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Colbert followed up with another oddly-shaped district and quipped, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like a stinger on a scorpion down here. Is this common for all states to do?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Pritzker, who is harboring runaway Texas Democrats who are trying to stop redistricting in their state, responded with the joke.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We handed it over to a Kindergarten class and let them decide.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&#128680; HOLY CRAP! Now STEPHEN COLBERT is calling out Illinois for their Dem gerrymandering and Gov. JB Pritzker couldn&#8217;t even defend it&hellip;In fact, he INSULTED his own map. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6f6xKLd9Gc\">pic.twitter.com\/6f6xKLd9Gc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We handed it to a Kindergarten class and let them decide.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>They DON&#8217;T EVEN HIDE IT.&hellip;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EricLDaugh\/status\/1953071982947291312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>But the segment quickly turned from one-sided &ldquo;comedy&rdquo; to outright hypocrisy.<\/p>\n<p>Colbert asked why Texas Republicans <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/massachusetts-dem-governor-threatens-redistrict-response-texas-just-one-big-problem\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">redrawing<\/a> the map was &ldquo;particularly egregious&rdquo; if all states engage in some form of gerrymandering, including his own.<\/p>\n<p>Pritzker pivoted to the usual talking point with no pushback from the host.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They are literally obliterating districts that were written according to the Voting Rights Act,&rdquo; he claimed of Texas Republicans, the U.K.&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/media\/article-14976513\/stephen-colbert-jb-pritzker-texas-illinois-congressional-redistricting-maps.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Daily Mail<\/a> reported. &ldquo;So this is going to end up in court if they are actually able to do it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Illinois governor went on to accuse Texas Republicans of racism &mdash; because that&rsquo;s what Democrats do.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That is extraordinarily rare,&rdquo; Pritzker said. &ldquo;And the way they are doing it is taking voting rights away from black and brown people.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Left unmentioned by the governor is the sheer extent to which Illinois <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/texas-dems-furious-gerrymandering-flee-illinois-republicans-essentially-voiceless-bad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has gerrymandered its own map<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Illinois is one of the most gerrymandered state in the nation and it isn&#8217;t close. I particularly love how they managed to create the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/good-news-three-of-ten-pro-impeachment-republicans-including-liz-cheney-already-have-primary-opponents\/\" title=\"Good News! Three of Ten Pro-Impeachment Republicans Including Liz Cheney ALREADY Have Primary Opponents\">13th district<\/a> to get a Dem district out of a deep red area. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yBQSqlhoBH\">https:\/\/t.co\/yBQSqlhoBH<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Jn93ovOQWw\">pic.twitter.com\/Jn93ovOQWw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; David Chavous (@DACDAC4DAC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DACDAC4DAC\/status\/1952156689567826099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Democrats in Illinois hold 82 percent of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-massive-blow-to-democrats-republicans-won-almost-every-house-race-thats-key-to-redistricting\/\" title=\"In Massive Blow To ..., Republicans Won Almost Every House Race That&#039;s Key To Redistricting\">congressional seats &#038;mdash<\/a>; 14 total &mdash; despite making up only 34.5 percent of registered voters, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/independentvoterproject.org\/voter-stats\/il\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Independent Voter Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans make up 27 percent, a gap of just 7.5 points.<\/p>\n<p>Only three Republican representatives <a href=\"https:\/\/www.house.gov\/representatives#state-idaho\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">represent Illinois<\/a>: Mary Miller, Darin LaHood, and Mike Bost.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most glaring examples is the 17th district, which Colbert mentioned meanders from Rockford to Rock Island to Bloomington.<\/p>\n<p>It ropes in rural conservatives under Democratic Rep. Eric Sorensen, but it is apparently not at all racist.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than address that imbalance, Pritzker deflected with partisan attacks as Colbert just let him slide.<\/p>\n<p>The segment is precisely why Democrats don&rsquo;t have a leg to stand on when it comes to griping about gerrymandering &mdash; and an example of why &ldquo;The Late Show&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/bill-oreilly-predicted-rival-colberts-late-show-demise-day-happened\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">is getting canceled<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker had to address the ridiculousness of his state&#8217;s gerrymandered congressional districts on national TV. When asked about it, he joked that a kindergarten class drew the map. On Tuesday&#8217;s episode of &#8220;The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,&#8221; Colbert showed Illinois&#8217; oddly shaped 17th Congressional District and asked Pritzker to explain its strange boundaries<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2471603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Illinois-Gerrymandering.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[58799,22850,6413,5894],"class_list":["post-2471602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-congressional-map","tag-gerrymandering","tag-illinois","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Illinois-Gerrymandering.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2471602"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2471606,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471602\/revisions\/2471606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2471603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2471602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2471602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2471602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}