New Analysis Answers Important Questions about Partisan Gerrymandering in Illinois
via Reboot Illinois
“When boundaries for Illinois General Assembly districts are drawn to give maximum advantage to one political party, there is ample evidence that gerrymandering “works” for that party in the first election under the new maps. On average, the party in control of the process has gained nearly a dozen seats in the General Assembly in the first election under the new maps in 1982, 1992, 2002 and 2012.
In 2012, Democratic candidates in the House won 52 percent of the total vote and 60 percent of the seats, and Democratic candidates in the Senate won 54 percent of the vote and 68 percent of the seats. In 2014 in a midterm election favoring Republicans, the partisan bias in the 2011 maps still delivered for Democratic candidates. While the margin in total votes cast for Democrats in legislative elections shrank to a near-tie statewide, Democrats still won 71 House seats, a 60 percent majority. The Democrats also won 11 of the 19 Senate seats that were up in 2014 while receiving less than a majority of the total votes cast in those 19 districts.”