Redistricting the General Assembly: The last decade’s big gainers and losers
By Sam Hudzik
Redistricting the General Assembly: The last decade’s big gainers and losers
By Sam HudzikAs Illinois lawmakers gather Wednesday in Springfield to hear Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget address, reporters (and no doubt party leadership staff) continue to comb through the Census data that will guide the rough-and-tumble redistricting process this year.
The data came out Tuesday, and the population counts for state legislative districts are all over the place.
We’ve put together the five state representative and senate districts that are the most populated, and the five that are the least. Here’s why this matters: at the end of the redistricting process, each district will need to be “substantially equal in population” to the others in its chamber, according to the Illinois Constitution.
So a state senator holding a seat in a heavily populated district will lose a big chunk of his or her constituents. Conversly, a senator hanging out in one of the population-starved districts will need to pick up new real estate. Note that the big-gaining districts are all in suburban and exurban areas - and mostly represented by Republicans, while the big-losing districts are all in Chicago, held by Democrats.
Five Most Populated Illinois House Districts, per Census 2010
| Top gainers | Incumbent | District office | 2010 population |
|---|---|---|---|
| State House District 84 | Tom Cross (R) | Plainfield | 202008 |
| State House District 50 | Kay Hatcher (R) | Yorkville | 178899 |
| State House District 49 | Timothy Schmitz (R) | Geneva | 154080 |
| State House District 81 | Renée Kosel (R) | Monee | 142036 |
| State House District 85 | Emily McAsey (D) | Romeoville | 139496 |
Five Least Populated Illinois House Districts, per Census 2010
| Top losers | Incumbent | District office | 2010 population |
|---|---|---|---|
| State House District 6 | Esther Golar (D) | Chicago | 86931 |
| State House District 25 | Barbara Flynn Currie (D) | Chicago | 91147 |
| State House District 2 | Edward Acevado (D) | Chicago | 91849 |
| State House District 4 | Cynthia Soto (D) | Chicago | 92536 |
| State House District 40 | Deborah Mell (D) | Chicago | 92752 |
Five Most Populated Illinois Senate Districts, per Census 2010
| Top gainers | Incumbent | District office | 2010 population |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Senate District 42 | Linda Holmes (D) | Plainfield | 337625 |
| State Senate District 25 | Chris Lauzen (R) | Aurora | 332979 |
| State Senate District 32 | Pamela Althoff (R) | Crystal Lake | 254707 |
| State Senate District 43 | A.J. Wilhelmi (D) | Crest Hill | 252892 |
| State Senate District 41 | Christine Radogno (R) | Lemont | 250942 |
Five Least Populated Illinois Senate Districts, per Census 2010
| Top losers | Incumbent | District office | 2010 population |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Senate District 20 | Iris Martinez (D) | Chicago | 187878 |
| State Senate District 7 | Heather Steans (D) | Chicago | 188147 |
| State Senate District 17 | Donne Trotter (D) | Chicago | 189200 |
| State Senate District 3 | Mattie Hunter (D) | Chicago | 189367 |
| State Senate District 14 | Emil Jones III (D) | Chicago | 190871 |
There are tons more data to share, but we’re still working through it. Thanks to the good folks at Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) for their help breaking down these numbers.