Fact check: Last time Illinois redistricted

1. Summary of the results

Based on the analyses provided, Illinois last redistricted in 2021 following the 2020 census ^{[1] [2] [3]}. The Illinois General Assembly enacted new congressional and legislative maps during this redistricting cycle, which were signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker ^[1].

The redistricting process in Illinois is controlled by the General Assembly and is subject to the Governor's veto power ^[1]. If the General Assembly fails to pass a redistricting plan, authority transfers to the Illinois Legislative Redistricting Commission ^[1]. The state's redistricting criteria include requirements for compactness, contiguity, and substantially equal population ^[1].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original query lacks important context about the political implications of Illinois's 2021 redistricting. The analyses reveal that Illinois's congressional maps are already heavily tilted toward the Democratic party ^[3], which provides crucial context about the partisan nature of the redistricting process.

Additionally, the timing of this redistricting coincided with significant national political tensions. The analyses show that during this period, Texas Democrats fled to Illinois to block redistricting votes in their home state ^[4], and Governor Pritzker offered them support ^[4]. This suggests that Illinois's redistricting occurred within a broader national context of partisan redistricting battles.

The analyses also indicate that Governor Pritzker has suggested redrawing Illinois district maps "on the table" in response to Texas redistricting efforts ^[2], demonstrating how redistricting decisions can be influenced by interstate political dynamics and retaliation strategies.

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original statement appears to be a neutral factual query rather than a claim containing potential misinformation. However, the brevity of the question omits the significant political context surrounding Illinois's 2021 redistricting process.

The statement fails to acknowledge that redistricting is often a highly partisan political process where the controlling party benefits from drawing favorable district boundaries. In Illinois's case, the Democratic party, which controlled both the legislature and governor's office, would have benefited from maintaining or enhancing their electoral advantages through the redistricting process ^[3].

The timing and political circumstances surrounding the 2021 redistricting - including interstate political maneuvering and threats of retaliatory redistricting - represent important contextual factors that are absent from the original query but are crucial for understanding the full scope of Illinois's redistricting activities.