Illinois black lawmakers gave House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) a firm reality check on Monday: any new congressional map that dilutes the black vote will be met with staunch opposition.
Jeffries traveled to Chicago to meet with members of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus and was joined by members of the U.S. delegation to Congress, including Reps. Danny Davis (D-IL), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), Robin Kelly (D-IL), and Lauren Underwood (D-IL).
Jackson, Kelly, and Davis all represent districts where state black lawmakers are putting their foot down as non-starters for gerrymandering, as Democrats look to redistrict in as many blue states as possible to offset new maps signed into law or in the process of becoming law by Republican states.
State Sen. Willie Preston, chairman of the Illinois Senate black caucus, told the Washington Examiner after Monday’s meeting that no maps were proposed or shown to the lawmakers by Jeffries. Preston said he made his position to the national leader quite clear.
“I think I was very direct with Leader Jeffries, that we’re in the fight. We’re in a fight of our life. And I understand that,” Preston said.
“However, if there is a requirement of us to lose the 1st, the 2nd, or the 7th Congressional District, that’s something I’m going to have to oppose, and I’m going to lobby against it,” he continued.
Preston and Jeffries were joined by African American state representatives and senators from the General Assembly, as well as a committeeman from the South Side of Chicago.
Three of Illinois’s congressional districts are at least 40% African American, and the state has four black representatives in Washington, D.C..
The state senator noted that Jeffries asked the lawmakers in Chicago to keep an open mind, which Preston said was “more than fair.” But he said that he will “100% speak out” and do “everything within my power” to oppose maps that dilute the black vote by pushing historically black communities in the districts held by Jackson, Kelly, and Davis into rural, conservative districts.
The state senator added that he’s hearing from Democratic counterparts all over the country to stand firm against a map that dilutes black voters.
“I’m hearing from counterparts in South Carolina who are telling me to hold the line, that they’re going to need representation from the northern states to speak on behalf of black people in the southern part of this country, because they’re getting their seats taken from them,” the senator said, referring to GOP efforts to write members like Rep. Don Davis (D-NC) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) out of their districts. “So, this is — there’s more to it than maybe what meets the eye.”
Jeffries, for his part, has signaled he intends to continue pushing for redistricting to combat Trump and Republican gains in red states.
“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 told reporters after the meeting.
Kelly added that we have to “fight fire with fire,” a sentiment many Democrats have turned to as they seek to counter a successful redistricting in Texas and attempts in Missouri, North Carolina, and Indiana, barring ongoing and anticipated legal challenges.
When asked about Preston and other state black lawmakers’ concerns about diluting the African American vote during redistricting, Jeffries said we are “completely and totally committed to making sure that African American representation and Latino representation in the great state of Illinois is preserved so that those communities of color can continue to elect candidates of their choice.”
“Republicans are the ones who are breaking up black and Latino districts all across the country, that’s what they did in Texas, and that’s what they’re continuing to do throughout the nation,” the leader added.
When asked if the goal is to create an additional seat to increase their 14-3 delegation to 15-2, Jeffries said the map will be up to the legislature and governor to decide.
After his meeting in Chicago, Jeffries traveled to Springfield, where he met with Illinois state Senate President Don Harmon at the state Capitol and House Speaker Emanuel Welch.
Of his meeting with Harmon, Jeffries said he had a “thoughtful” and “candid” conversation with the Senate president. He reiterated that he doesn’t want to see minority voters diluted “now and in the future” when it comes to new maps.
“Illinois is going to be an incredibly important part of the response on behalf of the American people, and that’s always been the case in the Land of Lincoln,” Jeffries said when asked if Illinois is make-or-break for Democrats.
The General Assembly is scheduled to wrap up its legislative calendar later this week, and time to begin redistricting is running out, as the filing deadline for candidates to appear on the March 2026 primary ballot is Nov. 3.
While various Illinois lawmakers have told local outlets that there’s been a frosty reception to redistricting after doing so ahead of the 2022 midterms, Pritzker told reporters on Monday that he thinks it’s possible.
“This is all about the fact that Donald Trump is now trying to rig the game by going state by state and asking his friends, the Republican governors and Republican legislators, to do mid-decade redistricting,” Pritzker said after filing his petition to seek a third term as governor. “That’s something we’re all going to have to look at during the process here. But it doesn’t have to happen during [this week’s] veto session. It could happen after that, but right now, there’s just a lot of conversation going on.”
Preston said he understood the fight that Jeffries and Democrats want to bring to Illinois, noting that as a congressional candidate, he, too, does not want Democrats to stay in the minority in the House. Preston is running in a crowded Democratic field to replace Kelly, seeking Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-IL) Senate seat after the announcement of his retirement.
DEMOCRATS TRY TO KEEP UP WITH REPUBLICANS IN NATIONAL REDISTRICTING WAR
But, Preston said, “I just don’t think the insurance that they’re asking for in Illinois is worth it, based on us picking up potentially one more seat without the dilution and separation of black neighborhoods.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Jackson, Kelly, and Underwood for comment.