Kankakee Times

Republican House candidate Lindsay Parkhurst, from District 79, recently responded to House Speaker Mike Madigan’s active resistance to the Independent Map Amendment’s place on the November election ballot.

"The status quo has failed us," Parkhurst said. “Mike Madigan is currently suing to keep the Independent Map Amendment off of the General Election ballot. He wants to be able to control who represents you in Springfield and tighten his grip on power. (Rep.) Kate Cloonen has been silent on the matter since the lawsuit began. That's unacceptable.”

The Independent Map Amendment gained a spot on the ballot after more than 563,000 signatures were collected — nearly twice the required minimum of 290,216. The measure would remove the power to redraw district map boundaries from lawmakers, instead assigning it to an independent commission.

“Voters should be able to choose their politicians, not the other way around,” Parkhurst said. “We need to fundamentally reform state government — that starts with Fair Maps and Term Limits.”

Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe underscored Parkhurst’s position, stating that the Democratic Party cannot claim that it supports district reform when its own chairman, Madigan, has backed litigation to remove the issue from the ballot.

“Until this shameful lawsuit is dropped, Democratic candidates should refuse financial support from the Madigan-controlled Democratic Party,” Yaffe said.