Adam Kinzinger is one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump over Jan. 6. He is not seeking reelection, the third draw of the congressional maps are underway leaving one Republican in rather large district, stretching as far as the Wisconsin border.
Congressman Darin LaHood said the entire redistricting process is just absolutely ridiculous.
“It’s blabber gerrymandering. It’s basically democrat politicians picking their voters. This was done in the dead of night, basically 3 a.m.,” said LaHood. “The process is totally undemocratic. We should have an independent commission set up. I’ve been supportive in the past of doing something called the Fair Maps Initiative, where we take Democrat politicians from Chicago… out of the process.”
LaHood said when Governor Pritzker ran for office three years ago, he supported the Fair Map Initiative.
“He backtracked on that. Now we’re left with gerrymandering,” said LaHood. “If you look at this map, it is so convoluted. My district still includes Bloomington-Normal and the Peoria area, but now goes to the Wisconsin border.”
LaHood will now be representing, in his new district (as of now), 760,000 people. LaHood’s district also doesn’t have a city that is over 15,000 in population size.
“They literally go through counties and they pick up the rural areas and they put all of the perceived rural voters into my district. Then try to cram in the democrats in the democrats districts so they can help eliminate republicans,” said LaHood. “The whole process totally sucks. I hope that when it gets to the federal court system it gets overturned, because it’s unconstitutional.”
LaHood said the democrats are trying to eliminate two Republicans. Adam Kinzinger would’ve had to run against LaHood in the primary if he hadn’t announced he wasn’t seeking reelection.
I’m proud to have served #Illinois for six terms and look forward to what’s next. I’ll continue to fight for truth and transparency, for principled leadership and proven solutions, for hope and opportunity.
Thank you for this great honor, #IL16. Here’s to the next chapter! pic.twitter.com/vZu8NFET5e
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) October 29, 2021
Cities reached out to Kinzinger for comment.
“Eric Holder and Obama go around the country and complain about gerrymandering. Complaining about the process being illegal and their filing lawsuits. I want them to come into Illinois and file a lawsuit against Democrats in Springfield,” said LaHood.
So is LaHood afraid of a mixed-voter pool?
In McLean County there are two different members of Congress, there has been three different members of Congress.
“It’s confusing. All of McLean county should be in one district. Now does that mean I’m going to have democrat voters in my district? Of course it does. I’m proud of my record. I’m proud of my advocacy. I think that’s better for democracy than having a safe Republican district or all you have to worry about is a primary. Or a safe democratic district. That’s not healthy for democracy. We ought to have all of Peoria county, all of McLean county should be in the same district,” said LaHood.
LaHood said you have to go street by street to figure out who’s your Congressman.
“It’s not gonna benefit me politically. I think it’s healthier for a democracy and for a country to have districts where you actually have to go out and articulate what you stand for,” said LaHood.
The Democrats put Kinzinger, a Normal native, both in the same district. LaHood said he was prepared to run for re-election regardless of who jumped into that seat and ran.
“I’m proud of my conservative record. I’m proud of supporting President Trump and his policies over the last four years here. I’m proud of my votes and what I’ve advocated for. I’m a strong conservative Republican. I would’ve run on that record, whether it was Congressman Kinzinger or others in the district. There may be plenty of others who jump into this race between now and next June,” said LaHood. “Part of being in these jobs is you have to go out and articulate why you stand for the principles you do.”
How does LaHood keep his constituents in line?
“I think I’m one of the only members in downstate Illinois that does town hall meetings,” said LaHood. “I’ve purposely done that. I’ve done a lot of them. They’re not always easy to do, but I do a lot of them. I’m very active on social media. I do a lot of open office hours where I have people come in. Again a lot of my town halls have had a lot of angry people come.”
