House Democratic Leader Makes Gerrymandering Push in Illinois

Jeffries pushes for more extreme gerrymandering measures in Illinois amid nationwide redistricting fight

Published November 3, 2025

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-Ny. visited Illinois this week to push for a more aggressive gerrymandering plan in a state where fourteen of its seventeen member Congressional delegation is already made up of Democrats.

The push, which is part of a nationwide redistricting effort by Democrats and Republicans, is an attempt to gain more Congressional seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Democrats such as Minority Leader Jeffries have couched their attempts to gerrymander seats in California, Illinois, Virginia, and other states as a way to ensure ‘free and fair’ elections.

“Democrats have made clear that we are going to respond, as is being done in California right now, appropriately, immediately, and forcefully, to ensure that the national congressional map is as fair as it can possibly be so that we allow for free and fair elections, and the American people can decide — not Donald Trump — who should represent them in Congress after November of 2026,” Jeffries said.

Extreme Democrat Hakeem Jeffries said this yesterday.

Then he hopped on a flight to Chicago to talk about squeezing another seat out of Illinois. pic.twitter.com/5j2XavnNwf
— IL Republican Party (@ILGOP) October 27, 2025

Republicans have responded by pointing out that Illinois’ Congressional maps are already among the most gerrymandered in the country, meaning that redistricting would further disenfranchise Republicans in the state.

The Illinois Republican Party condemned Jeffries’ efforts, saying that Jeffries priorities are misplaced amid a government shutdown. (RELATED: Fond Du Lac DA Eric Toney Wages Rematch For Wisconsin Attorney General Race)

“As Illinois families feel the pain of a government shutdown, Hakeem Jeffries is ignoring his duty in Washington to try to turn Illinois’ maps into even more of a pretzel” the party said in a statement after Jeffries’ visit.

Still, Illinois Speaker of the House Emanuel “Chris” Welch seemed to express support for redistricting, saying that all options “must remain on the table.“

“I appreciate Leader Jeffries’ commitment to stand up against this tyranny,” Welch said in a post-meeting statement. “I agree with the Leader, all options must remain on the table to protect our democracy.” (RELATED: Poll Finds Increasing Blame on Democrats for Continued Shutdown)