House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has hit a brick wall in his effort to persuade Illinois Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional map, meeting stiff resistance within his own party, Capitol News Illinois reported Wednesday.
Jeffries has been quietly urging leaders in solid-blue states to consider new maps ahead of the 2026 midterms, hoping to counter a wave of Trump-backed GOP redistricting moves in states like Texas, North Carolina and Missouri. In Illinois, however, some Democrats have rejected the idea, according to Capitol News Illinois.
“I think there is next to zero appetite to do it,” one Democratic state House lawmaker told the outlet, while another lawmaker said, “There is no world where I see this happening.”
Jeffries made a last-minute push to add redistricting to the agenda before lawmakers adjourn their fall session next week, according to Punchbowl News. However, with the candidate petition filing deadline for the March primary approaching on Nov. 3, lawmakers would need to either delay the primary or rewrite ballot rules, the outlet reported.
Another roadblock is opposition from the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, which worries a new map could dilute minority voting power by spreading Black voters across more districts.
“We’re going to fight back,” Democrat state Sen. Willie Preston told Punchbowl News on Wednesday. “We just won’t do so at the expense of our own power.”
Jeffries’ office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who said in August that redrawing the state’s congressional maps was “on the table,” appeared more noncommittal this week. He stated that Democrats shouldn’t have to “sit on the sidelines,” but added that any redistricting decision is “really up to the legislature,” Capitol News Illinois reported.
The Illinois governor had previously pledged to veto any partisan maps and even had campaigned on amending the state’s constitution to create an independent redistricting commission.
The Prairie State’s congressional maps are already considered among the most heavily gerrymandered in the nation.
Illinois Democrats currently hold a commanding 14–3 edge in the state’s congressional delegation after enacting one of the most partisan maps in the country in 2021. That map, which gave Democrats 82% of seats in a state former Vice President Kamala Harris carried with just 54.4% of the vote in 2024, earned an “F” from the Princeton Gerrymandering Project for political fairness and competition.
Pritzker was pressed about the maps when talking with Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show” in August. Colbert compared Illinois District 13, which stretches across seven counties, to a scorpion’s stinger. Pritzker responded by joking that a kindergarten class drew the map and called it his “independent commission.”
Meanwhile, Republicans have advanced new congressional maps in several states. Texas passed a map in August, expected to give the GOP five additional House seats in the midterms. Missouri followed in September with a map projected to add one Republican seat, and North Carolina approved a new map on Wednesday, expected to yield one more GOP seat.
The Trump administration has also turned its attention to Indiana, but state Senate Republicans say they currently lack the votes to pass mid-cycle redistricting.
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