Rock Island Today

Veteran GOP state Rep. Tony McCombie is weighing a 37th District Senate run after the recent Democrat-enacted redistricting plan placed her in the same district as fellow Rep. Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) she announced on July 7.

Republicans, as the minority party in Illinois, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund had each filed a suit in June challenging partisan district maps signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. A three-judge panel will decide whether the current maps are constitutional, NPR reported.

“Many have asked and wonder what my next steps are with the new 'map,'" McCombie posted on Facebook. “Today, I kick off an exploratory tour of the 37th Senate District. It is my hope that learning more will lead me to the best decision.”

McCombie added that she thinks it was all done by design.

“Democrat politicians drew this map behind closed doors and consolidated me with other Republicans, aiming to push me out of office,” she said. “Rather than challenge a House colleague, many community leaders I represent are encouraging me to run to continue to represent them in the State Senate in District 37. I am not done working for the people of Illinois. Illinois taxpayers expect an honest, efficient government with an appreciation to protect our investments in shared priorities.”

Later in the post, McCombie added she thinks her views and knowledge put her in a class all of her own in Springfield.

“My understanding of our agricultural economy in rural Illinois, how education and skills training policies can open doors to head of household jobs in rural and state line communities and the experience to protect and speak strongly on behalf of struggling taxpayers in Illinois,” she said. “The transparency, work ethic and perspective I bring coming from the state line region, is a unique viewpoint that a legislator from the central part of the state likely has not experienced.”

McCombie stands by her call for what she sees as much-needed ethics reform in Springfield, blasting a blog post that she said misquoted her over the recently drawn district maps.

“I had no intention to speak today until my name was brought up in debate being accused of something that is absolutely completely false and disgusting," McCombie said in a video. “I'm going to read  for the record for my colleagues here what exactly I said.”

She reiterated that she believed the maps were politically driven. "If you don't think that in my district, you can certainly see it across the state when you have two or four Republican House seats drawn in together and then empty seats right next to them," she said in the video. "I think the courts will tear them apart for two reasons: not using the U.S. Census, and for how blatantly politically they are drawn.”

More recently, McCombie said she’s considering a move to Whiteside County, where GOP state Rep. Tom Demmer of Dixon and state Sen. Win Stoller of East Peoria now serve.  

“I have yet to decide if I am running for House or Senate,” McCombie told The Illinoize.com. “One thing I know is I’m not done yet.”