Illinois's 4th congressional district

Illinois's 4th congressional district
Map
Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023
Representative
Area97.0 sq mi (251 km2)
Distribution
  • 100.0% urban
  • 0.0% rural
Population (2023)704,764
Median household
income		$75,442[1]
Ethnicity
Cook PVID+22[2]

The 4th congressional district of Illinois includes part of Cook County, and has been represented by Democrat Jesús "Chuy" García since January 2019.

In November 2017, incumbent Luis Gutiérrez announced that he would retire from Congress at the end of his current term, and not seek re-election in 2018.[3][4] Jesús "Chuy" García was elected on November 6, 2018.

The previous version of the district from 2013–2023 was featured by The Economist as one of the most strangely drawn and gerrymandered congressional districts in the country,[5] inspired the "Ugly Gerry" gerrymandering typeface,[6] and has been nicknamed "earmuffs" due to its shape.[7] That version of the district was created after federal courts ordered the creation of a majority-Hispanic district in the Chicago area. The Illinois General Assembly responded by packing two majority Hispanic parts of Chicago into a single district.

The 2013–2023 version of the district formerly covered two strips running east–west across the city of Chicago, on the west side continuing into smaller portions of some suburban areas in Cook County, surrounding Illinois's 7th congressional district. The northern portion is largely Puerto Rican, while the southern portion is heavily Mexican-American. These two sections were only connected by a piece of Interstate 294 to the west; the highway is in the district while the surrounding areas are not. This version of the district was the smallest congressional district in area outside New York City and California.[8]

  1. ^ "My Congressional District".
  2. ^ "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. July 12, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  3. ^ Pearson, Rick; Byrne, John (November 28, 2017). "U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez won't run again, wants to rebuild Puerto Rico". ChicagoTribune. Chicago. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  4. ^ Korecki, Natasha (November 27, 2017). "Gutierrez won't seek reelection". Politico. Arlington, VA. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  5. ^ The Economist (April 25, 2002). "How to rig an election".
  6. ^ Campbell-Dollaghan, Kelsey (August 2, 2019). "The world's most revolting font is made out of gerrymandered voting districts". Fast Company. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  7. ^ Aaron Blake (July 27, 2011). "Name that district! (Gerrymandering edition)". Washington Post. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  8. ^ "Congressional Districts by Land Area (National)". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original (ASCII text) on July 14, 2007. Retrieved November 11, 2006.