REDISTRICTING PLAN MAY CUT POSHARD DISTICT

CARTERVILLE -- Rep. Glenn Poshard, who is in the middle of his second term in the House, may be a candidate without a district next year but he vows to be on the ballot.

Southern Illinois could lose a congressional district and a Democratic congressman under a Republican redistricting plan which has been filed in federal court in Chicago.

The new GOP plan, which Poshard, D-Carterville, calls a "disturbing development," would eliminate his 22nd Congressional District. Illinois will lose two of its 22 seats in the U.S. House based on 1990 census results.

Poshard's current district, which covers much of the southern portion of the state from Centralia to Cairo, would be eliminated if the GOP plans go through, with the territory split between Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, and Rep. Terry Bruce, D-Olney.

Although Poshard would technically be in the same district as Costello, he would be able to run in either that district or Bruce's district next year.

Poshard and other downstate congressmen point out that while the 1990 census showed Illinois' population had dropped by roughly one million people, there was not a significant loss in Poshard's district, and fewer than 1,000 population loss in Costello's district.

A spokesman from Poshard's Washington D.C. office, Dave Stricklin, said that Democrats were worried about their chances in court, since all three judges who will make the redistricting decision were appointed by former President Ronald Reagan.

"It appears that there will be a division of boundaries," said Strickland. "Any division will be bad for our region. We feel strongly that Southern Illinois need to be its own region which can continue to progress toward improvements. If the area is divided at this time, it will imperil that."

Poshard and Democratic county chairmen from throughout the Southern Illinois region met late last week to map out a campaign against the GOP redistricting proposal.

He said a three-pronged approach would include a petition drive, letter-writing campaign and telephone campaign against the plan.