CBS’s Stephen Colbert’s invitation to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to appear on Tuesday’s The Late Show preceded the fleeing of Texas Democrats to that state in the wake of the state legislature’s redistricting efforts, but the developments were impossible for Colbert to ignore. Even Colbert, however, recognized the irony of complaining about gerrymandering to the governor of Illinois, but after Colbert asked Pritzker to explain himself, he let him off the hook after Pritzker made a meaningless joke about kindergarteners.
Colbert wondered, “So what happens now? A lot of governors out there are saying, well, they’re going to increase the gerrymander of their states in order to counter what Texas has done. California has already said what they are going to do: they’re going to put a plan in place that will wipe out half a dozen Republican seats but it will only be triggered if Texas goes through with their plan. It’s kind of, you know, like a dead man switch or something like that. Can Illinois do something like that?”
Pritzker hedged but got the crowd to roar in approval by portraying Texas’s move as a threat to democracy itself, “It's possible, and I've said everything is on the table. I mean, look, we've got to fight fire with fire. They frankly tossed the rulebook out, and they're just acting in an unconstitutional fashion, and what we’re going to have to do is whatever it takes to preserve democracy.”
Colbert then held up a map of Illinois’s current congressional districts, “Well, if you are—if you're considering doing a little more redrawing in Illinois, you already have some crazy districts in Illinois. Take a look at this. Look at 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. And look at this one, kind of goes whoop up there. It's like the stinger on a scorpion down here. Is this common for all states to do?”
Pritzker dodged the question, “We handed it over to a kindergarten class and let them decide.
Colbert played along, “Okay, that's the nonpartisan group that does this for you?”
In Illinois, as in Texas, the legislature draws the districts, but Pritzker was happy Colbert dropped the subject, “That's our independent commission” and defend his state’s map because it wasn’t redrawn in the middle of the decade.
Later, Colbert got back to his more traditional softballs. Discussing the fact that Pritzker is a billionaire, Colbert wondered, “You don't have to work anywhere, let alone in the government. Being a politician seems like kind of a cruddy job these days. Why do you want to do the job you’re doing?”
Pritzker gave a long answer about his late mother:
It's a pretty serious question, and I know we're on a show that isn't always that serious, but… I know you lost your father when you were young. I lost my father and my mother when I was young. And my mother was my hero. I mean, she really was, and she was an activist, and advocate for reproductive rights. I mean, long before, frankly, it was commonplace. The 60s and the early 70s, and when I was growing up, she took me to all the rallies and the marches. I just—I, you know, I absorbed a lot of her enthusiasm. And so I have to say that—I think you know this, when you lose a parent when you are young, during your lifetime you’re hoping to, in some way, honor them and, in fact, to fulfill something that they may have wanted to do during their lifetimes, and so standing up for people's rights and making sure that we're making life more affordable, raising the minimum wage, you know, protecting people from the onslaught of somebody like Donald Trump, that’s something my mother would be out doing right now, and so I’m very proud.
To return to gerrymandering, Texas’s new map would give Republicans a 30-8 advantage. Illinois currently has a 14-3 Democratic advantage. As a percentage of seats, Illinois would still be more gerrymandered than Texas.
Here is a transcript for the August 5-taped show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
8/6/2025
12:20 AM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: So what happens now? A lot of governors out there are saying, well, they’re going to increase the gerrymander of their states in order to counter what Texas has done. California has already said what they are going to do: they’re going to put a plan in place that will wipe out half a dozen Republican seats but it will only be triggered if Texas goes through with their plan. It’s kind of, you know, like a dead man switch or something like that. Can Illinois do something like that?
JB PRITZKER: It's possible, and I've said everything is on the table. I mean, look, we've got to fight fire with fire. They frankly tossed the rulebook out, and they're just acting in an unconstitutional fashion, and what we’re going to have to do is whatever it takes to preserve democracy.
COLBERT: Well, if you are — if you're considering doing a little more redrawing in Illinois, you already have some crazy districts in Illinois. Take a look at this. Look at 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. And look at this one, kind of goes whoop up there. It's like the stinger on a scorpion down here. Is this common for all states to do?
PRITZKER: We handed it over to a kindergarten class and let them decide.
COLBERT: Okay, that's the nonpartisan group that does this for you?
PRITZKER: That's our independent commission.
…
COLBERT: You don't have to work anywhere, let alone in the government. Being a politician seems like kind of a cruddy job these days. Why do you want to do the job you’re doing?
PRITZKER: It's a pretty serious question, and I know we're on a show that isn't always that serious, but —
COLBERT: Or always that funny.
PRITZKER: Well, I'll try not to be funny then as I answer this question. I know you lost your father when you were young. I lost my father and my mother when I was young. And my mother was my hero. I mean, she really was, and she was an activist, and advocate for reproductive rights. I mean, long before, frankly, it was commonplace. The 60s and the early 70s, and when I was growing up, she took me to all the rallies and the marches. I just—I, you know, I absorbed a lot of her enthusiasm. And so I have to say that—I think you know this, when you lose a parent when you are young, during your lifetime you’re hoping to, in some way, honor them and, in fact, to fulfill something that they may have wanted to do during their lifetimes, and so standing up for people's rights and making sure that we're making life more affordable, raising the minimum wage, you know, protecting people from the onslaught of somebody like Donald Trump, that’s something my mother would be out doing right now, and so I’m very proud.