Despite Boundary Changes in Illinois' Districts, Oak Lawn Remains Mostly Intact

Most of Oak Lawn will remain in 3rd Congressional District under U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski after Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed a new map into law on Friday.

However, residents living a few blocks west of Pulaski Road will move over to U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush’s 1st Congressional District.

The Democratic-drawn map of new congressional boundaries is designed to reverse Republican gains in last year’s election, according to the Chicago Tribune.

"More than just reflecting population shifts, the map lines also reflect the political power of controlling the cartography," it reported Friday.

"The map pits some incumbent Republicans against others, stretches boundaries to allow incumbent Chicago Democrats to reach out into the GOP-leaning suburbs or gives GOP congressmen vast swatches of new unfamiliar territory."

While much of Oak Lawn stays with Lipinski, the rest of the 3rd District’s boundaries have shifted.

The 3rd District lost Riverside and Westchester, as well as parts of Berwyn, Brookfield and LaGrange Park. It gained all of Lemont, Homer Glen, Lockport Township, Romeoville and small portion of west Orland Park.

By law, the optimal population for a U.S. Congressional District is 720,000. Under the old map, the 3rd District had a population of 648,000, but increases by 70,000 in the new district lines.

Illinois' Republican U.S. House members issued a joint statement Friday expressing their disappoint in Quinn and the map redraw, saying it was highly partisan and disrespected the will of the state's voters in last fall’s election

“Gov. Quinn said that a fair redistricting process required hearings," the statement said. "Yet the map was unveiled on a Friday and passed the following Monday, with no hearings. Gov. Quinn said that the way in which district lines are drawn contributes to the success of our democracy. Yet the map he approved seeks to reverse the results of a democratic election. Gov. Quinn advocated for a fair and open process. Instead, he has guaranteed an unfair and closed one.”

Republicans have vowed to challenge the map in court.

Oak Lawn Mayor Dave Heilmann, who once entertained a run as a Republican for the Illinois House, said he thought it was terrible when either political party creates a map that favors one party over another.

“My reading of it is that you have one side trying to gain a political advantage and the other side probably have done the same thing,” Heilmann said. “I completely disagree that you have one side making the call. That makes zero sense to me in a democracy.

The new boundaries take effect in the March 2012 Illinois primary.

Correction: In an earlier version of this story, Patch inadvertantly put "east of Pulaski Road" for the small area of Oak Lawn in the 1st U.S. Congressional District. We meant west and apologize for the error.