Gerrymandering, or redrawing district lines to benefit a particular party, has been a common topic of news coverage in recent days after a group of Texas Democrats fled the state in opposition to redistricting proposed by GOP lawmakers.
One Democratic governor, JB Pritzker of Illinois, injected himself into the narrative by offering the Texas officials refuge in his state.
But when Pritzker went on “The Late Show” to discuss the matter, he probably wasn’t expecting leftist host Stephen Colbert to press him on Illinois’ long history of gerrymandering.
Fox News provided coverage of the on-air exchange:
“If you are considering doing a little more redrawing in Illinois, you already have some crazy districts in Illinois. Take a look at this. Look at [district] 17 here. It does that, then it comes up here, and it sneaks around there and goes all the way up here and then goes right over there like that,” Colbert said as he gestured, describing the districts. “Is this common for all states to do?”
Texas House Republicans have introduced a redistricting proposal that could net them five new GOP seats. The draft congressional map, which is likely to change before approval by both state legislative chambers, aims to redraw district lines to include more Republican-leaning areas in Democratic strongholds like Dallas and Houston. The move has prompted Texas Democrats to leave the state in order to halt the vote, and Pritzker put himself at the center of the national discussion by offering refuge in Illinois.
Pritzker joked that a kindergarten class drew the map, and called it his independent commission.
The comedian pulled up another map that moved upward sharply and joked, “It’s like a stinger on a scorpion.”
“So because all states to a certain extent do this, why is what Texas [is] doing particularly egregious in this case?” Colbert followed up.
Pritzker, who could have 2028 White House aspirations, pivoted to attacking Texas Republicans redrawing maps “at the behest of Donald Trump” and “doing it mid-decade.”
“That is extraordinarily rare,” Pritzker claimed. “And the way they are doing it is taking voting rights away from Black and Brown people. They are literally obliterating districts that were written according to the Voting Rights Act. So this is going to end up in court if they are actually able to do it.”
Pritzker said the Texas House Democrats were in Illinois to stop the GOP efforts and protect the country.
The issue has sparked widespread media commentary this week:
At the end of the day, Texas Democrats fleeing their home state and responsibilities is all for show.
The redistricting will pass and there will be five new congressional seats that a Republican will likely win – just the way it should be! pic.twitter.com/lCDc8A0iQb
— Mark Meadows (@MarkMeadows) August 5, 2025
REDISTRICTING FIGHT: It's simply not true that "Texas started it."
California started it. Democrats hijacked and corrupted the "independent" districting system, to gerrymander the maps and give themselves TWELVE more House seats than they would have with fair representation. pic.twitter.com/Dj5YAwoqdm
— steve hilton (@SteveHiltonx) August 4, 2025
Texas has every right to redraw district lines to represent ALL voters.
Democrats turned their backs on Texans.
They fled and abandoned both the redistricting fight and flood victims.
That is un-Texan. pic.twitter.com/n6Y9PtVbcm
— Governor Abbott Press Office (@GovAbbottPress) August 5, 2025
During the interview with Colbert, the Illinois governor doubled down on blaming Trump, as The Hill reported:
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), who has vowed to protect Texas Democrats who fled to his state over GOP redistricting efforts, accused President Trump of trying to “steal” congressional seats from the people.
“Donald Trump is trying to steal five seats from the people — frankly, of the country, not just the people of Texas — and disenfranchise people,” Pritzker told CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” when asked to describe what led the Democrats to leave the Lone Star State. “We’re talking about violating the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution.”
“So, the great heroes of the Texas House Democratic Caucus decided the only thing they could do in order to stop it was, leave Texas,” he continued. “And where did they decide to come to? The safe haven of the state of Illinois, where we are going to protect them and take care of them.”
The governor added, “I’m very proud of them.”
More than 50 Texas Democratic lawmakers have scattered to several blue states in an effort to block their Republican colleagues from passing what they see as a heavily gerrymandered congressional map during a special legislative session.
Here’s a clip of the segment:
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