Kadner: New state House districts extend Chicago’s reach

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Mary Flowers

Updated: February 14, 2012 10:18AM

There’s been a lot of publicity about the new congressional map in Illinois, which pretty much destroyed Republican chances of gaining (or even holding) House seats in this state.

But there hasn’t been much discussion about the state legislative remap that happened at the same time. This is the map that determines who controls Springfield and a lot of your local tax dollars.

Most of the state House districts look like pieces out of a jigsaw puzzle, with odd-shaped corners, elongated bodies and jagged edges that seem to follow no known geographic boundary.

Take the 31st District, where state Rep. Mary Flowers (a Democrat) is running for re-election. On its eastern end, in Chicago, it runs between Vincennes and Western avenues and from 72nd to 87th streets.

Then it starts heading southwest from Chicago and eventually through Hometown, part of Oak Lawn, Palos Hills and then suddenly shifting way north into Willow Springs.

I decided to check out some of the new districts when state Rep. Anthony DeLuca (D-Chicago Heights) told me his new district would extend to the Joliet Arsenal.

Sure enough, the new 80th House District starts in Chicago Heights, includes nearby suburbs such as Olympia Fields, Park Forest and University Park but then heads way west into Will County through Frankfort, Manhattan and includes a little town called Symerton.

What do the Will County places have in common with Chicago Heights? Nothing.

There seem to be a lot of districts that extend the tentacles of Chicago’s political reach far into the Southland.

For example, the 35th House District includes the Chicago communities of Beverly and Mount Greenwood and then heads southwest through Palos Heights, splits Orland Park in half and includes a portion of Orland Hills.

I checked out the state elections board website to find out who had filed to run in the district, and three of the five candidates (all Democrats) live in Chicago. The suburban candidates who filed include a Democratic from Palos Heights (Andrew Byrne Hodorowicz) and a lone Republican (Steven Williams, of Orland Park).

I find the new map ironic because some Orland Park residents have claimed for years that Chicago’s 19th Ward organization has influenced village politics.

One of the candidates running in the new 35th District, Frances Ann Hurley, of Beverly, claims to have the backing of the 19th Ward Democratic Organization. Hurley is an aide to Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th).

But she would only represent the western portion of Orland Park if elected, because east of 88th Avenue the village would be part of the 28th House District, where state Rep. Bob Rita (D-Blue Island) has filed.

That district seems to extend from about 100th Street and Martin Luther King Drive in Chicago to Blue Island, then west to Robbins and southwest through parts of Midlothian, Tinley Park and eventually Orland Park.

I could go on, but I have a feeling these descriptions of state legislative districts would only confuse you.

I wish I could recommend a website that would help you look at the district maps, but I didn’t find one that was worthwhile. I found the boundary lines particularly difficult to follow.

The state elections board has a GIS interactive map of the districts, but my computer wouldn’t let me interact with it.

Here’s the bottom line: The district boundaries make no sense to anyone who lives in the Southland or Chicago.

Neighboring villages can have different state representatives with vastly different geographic loyalties. A single suburb can have as many as three House districts.

I’ve always been concerned about the influence that Chicago politicians have over suburban lawmakers, and the new map only seems to increase the Chicago-centric nature of the General Assembly.

There’s a constant battle for tax dollars in Springfield between Chicago, the suburbs and downstate communities. The Southland needs people committed to fighting for its share of that money.

Hey, I know as well as anyone that House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) dominates Springfield.

But in the past, at least there was an illusion that people in the suburbs could influence policy by exerting pressure on their representatives to step up for local causes.

There are no illusions any more.

The new legislative maps may be difficult to read, but they show one thing clearly: Chicago Democrats are in complete control.