Gerrymandering debate rages in Illinois, but what is it?

Democrats from Texas remain in Illinois with just over a week to go in a special legislative session as a fight over gerrymandering continues.

In Texas, lawmakers are proposing new legislative maps that would give Republicans up to five additional seats in Congress, a critical component in trying to maintain their majority in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections.

Democrats from Texas left the state in an effort to deny the legislature a quorum, which ground that redistricting process to a halt and touched off a firestorm of controversy over the practice of ‘gerrymandering.’

Now, with the clock ticking on that process and criticism of Illinois’ own performance in terms of establishing politically slanted maps, here’s an explanation of what gerrymandering is, how it’s been undertaken in