Suit over St. Clair County Board districts now alleges ‘injustice to minority population’
An ongoing federal lawsuit over St. Clair County’s redrawn districts for board members is now alleging the new boundaries harm minority voters.
Counties vote on adjusting their district lines every 10 years to reflect population changes based on the latest census counts.
Republican County Board member Ed Cockrell and St. Clair County Republican Party Chairwomen Cheryl Mathews filed the redistricting lawsuit Aug. 11 against St. Clair County, initially alleging gerrymandering that weakens Republican representation on the board.
County Board Chairman Mark Kern and County Clerk Thomas Holbrook are also named as defendants.
Three county residents have since joined the lawsuit to allege illegal racial gerrymandering that weakens minority representation. And on Saturday, a federal judge denied the county’s motion to dismiss the amended complaint, which now focuses solely on the alleged discrimination based on race.
Attorney Garrett Hoerner, who represents the county, declined to comment on the pending litigation. In court documents, the county argues it followed the law in drawing the district map.
Paul Evans, the attorney representing Cockrell, Mathews and the three residents, said their complaint has changed since August because of a recent higher court decision on redistricting that said partisan maps are not unconstitutional, citing a 2019 U.S. Supreme Court case.
The three new plaintiffs are Terrilyn Gossett, Marvin Strode and Jason Madlock, who are from Washington Park and Cahokia Heights.
The amended complaint alleges that St. Clair County’s map eliminated one district in the East St. Louis area and will make Black incumbent board members run against each other in the upcoming primary election.
“When you consider that Minority population accounts for nearly 40% of the county, reducing the number of minority incumbents...is an injustice to the minority population that makes up St. Clair County,” the lawsuit states, citing demographic census data.
The county board approved the new map with an 18-9 vote. Kern said at the time that the county eliminated one district because of population loss. The board chairman has also described the map as fair during a board meeting.
Evans said the plaintiffs are seeking for the judge to order the county to draw a new map without eliminating a district and that it would be ideal for the resolution to come before Jan. 13, when candidates can begin circulating petitions.
“We have been open to discussions all along,” Evans said in an interview Wednesday. “The county has adopted a very strong stance. I am preparing to go forward to jury trial. If we can get this resolved quicker, boy, that gives everybody clarity who wants to run.”
Gossett, Strode and Madlock have all previously run for elected office but were defeated, according to county election results.
Gossett ran as an Independent in Washington Park races for village trustee in 2019 and for village president in 2017. Strode ran as an Independent for Canteen Township supervisor in 2017. And Madlock ran as an Independent for Centreville city clerk in 2019 and as a Republican for Illinois House District 114 in 2020 and 2018.
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 8:30 AM.
