Kendall County Times

Congressional candidate James Marter (R-Oswego) believes that most of Illinois' problems can be traced to the root issue of district map-drawing and gerrymandering.

“It’s all interconnected,” the Kendall County Republican Central Committee chairman told the Kendall County Times. “The Republican folks are in the super-minority in both the House and Senate and that’s because of how they draw district maps, and the impact is clear. We have a budget crisis in Illinois beyond belief and it’s because of the control of the state legislation by [House Speaker] Mike Madigan, [Gov.] J.B. Pritzker and Democrats.”

Marter, a candidate in a Republican primary field in the 14th Congressional District that includes Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) and state Sens. Jim Oberweis (R-Sugar Grove) and Sue Rezin (R-Morris), insists that Oswego represents a prime example of all the madness that can result from gerrymandering abuse.

Kendall County Republican Central Committee Chairman Jim Marter

“You can live in the village of Oswego but you can have one of four representatives,” Marter said. “They drew the lines right through the heart of Oswego to break us up because we were very Republican. They drew lines on purpose. It’s done not to represent the people.”

Many are disappointed that a recent Supreme Court decision on the issue has not helped to solve the debate. By a 5-4 decision, the high court ruled that the issue of partisan redistricting is a political question and not matter for the federal courts to legally unravel, even when it comes to the question of whether extreme gerrymandering violates the Constitution.

Still, Marter remains convinced that what is happening across the state is negatively affecting the democratic process and is not what voters want to see.  

“You poll 80 percent of Illinoisans and they all think that’s wrong,” Marter said. “No one believes we should pick our voters as opposed to voters picking our elected representatives.”