Burnt Orange Report

It would be easy to remap Mark Kirk (R-10th) out of his seat. A little more effort would be needed to send John Shimkus (R-19th) packing. Henry Hyde (R-6th) and Phil Crane (R-8th) would probably still be relatively safe, but life would become difficult for Republicans who wish to succeed these elderly conservatives. But Denny Hastert (R-14th) has way too many Republicans in the far western suburbs of Chicago and in rural areas to the west and south to worry about attempts to remap him into retirement. And as long as the House of Representatives remains Republican, it is seen as beneficial here to have an Illinois congressman in the speaker's chair.

However, chances are that any remap will not be done in time for the primary in mid-March. Even though Democrats control both houses of the legislature and the governor's mansion, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has managed to pick fights with Senate President Emil Jones, House Speaker Michael Madigan, and popular Secretary of State Jesse White. Most of these spats have been over the budget, but the rhetoric has been needlessly petty.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/neal/cst-edt-neal19.html
In the current climate, getting Blagojevich to sign on to such an agreement may not be easy. A push by the the Democrats in the IL congressional delegation and a wink from Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley would be helpful.

Illinoians are more pragmatic and less dogmatic than our friends in Texas. A prolonged remap battle would not play well with Illinois voters, especially those in the suburbs. Speaker Madigan in particular may be reluctant to spend too much political capital on such a project. Electing a Democrat to replace U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald is seen as a much higher priority.

I tend to think that this very preliminary proposal is chiefly meant as a warning shot across the bow of the House GOP leadership. However, it probably would have been more effective if it had been brought up during the height of the Texas Republican remap frenzy a few months ago.

BTW, here are the current IL congressional maps:
http://www.illinoisatlas.com/illinois/political/pdf/il_cd2002.pdf
http://www.illinoisatlas.com/illinois/political/pdf/neil_cd2002.pdf
http://www.illinoisatlas.com/illinois/political/pdf/chi_cd2002.pdf

I think you could pair Phil Crane and Henry Hyde into one district. Could Hyde and Judy Biggert be paired?

Or at least pair Crane and Mark Kirk, and draw a suburban Chicago district a moderate Dem could win.

Tim Z. . I dont if it would be that easy to remap Kirk out of his seat. His current district went for Gore 51%-47% in 2000, however he was elected in 2000 prior to redistricting in a district that went Al Gore 53%-45% (by 20,000 votes). He was running 6%/11,000 votes ahead of Bush that year. Remember Kirk is not this ultra-conservative like Hastert, and Hyde- Kirk is a moderate republican that fits good in the district. He;s pro-choice and is clearly been rated middle of the road. . not as easy as one might think.