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- Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed new legislative district maps on Monday.
- Democrats celebrated the signing as a major victory in a state the place Republicans have managed the Legislature for over a decade.
- Democrats are prone to acquire seats within the state Assembly and Senate beneath the new maps, which might be efficient for the November election.
Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed new legislative district maps into law on Monday that he proposed and that the Republicans who management the Legislature handed to keep away from having the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court draw the strains.
Democrats hailed the signing as a serious political victory within the swing state the place the Legislature has been firmly beneath Republican management for greater than a decade, at the same time as Democrats have received 14 of the previous 17 statewide elections.
“When I promised I wanted fair maps — not maps that are better for one party or another, including my own — I damn well meant it,” Evers mentioned previous to signing the maps into law on the state Capitol. “Wisconsin is not a red state or a blue state — we’re a purple state, and I believe our maps should reflect that basic fact.
WISCONSIN’S GOP-LED LEGISLATURE MAKES SECOND ATTEMPT TO DRAW MAPS BEFORE SUPREME COURT DOES
Democrats are almost certain to gain seats in the state Assembly and state Senate under the new maps, which be in place for the November election. Republicans have been operating since 2011 under maps they drew that were recognized as among the most gerrymandered in the country.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers speaks on Jan. 25, 2024, in Superior, Wis. Evers signed new legislative district maps into law on Feb. 19 that he proposed and that the Republicans who control the Legislature passed to avoid having the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court draw the lines. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Democrats tried unsuccessfully for more than a decade to overturn the Republican-drawn maps. But it wasn’t until control of the state Supreme Court flipped in August after the election of liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz that Democrats found a winning formula.
They filed a lawsuit the day after Protasiewicz joined the court. Republicans argued that Protasiewicz shouldn’t hear the lawsuit because she said during her campaign that the GOP-drawn maps were “rigged” and “unfair.” But she did not recuse herself.
Protasiewicz ended up providing the deciding fourth vote in a December ruling that declared the current maps to be unconstitutional because not all of the districts were contiguous, meaning some areas were geographically disconnected from the rest of the district. The court said it would draw the lines if the Legislature couldn’t pass maps that Evers would sign.
The court accepted maps from the governor, Democratic and Republican lawmakers, as well as three other parties to the redistricting lawsuit. Consultants hired by the court determined that maps submitted by the Legislature and a conservative law firm were “partisan gerrymanders,” leaving the court with four Democratic-drawn maps to choose from.
Facing a mid-March deadline from the state elections commission for new maps to be in place, the Legislature on Tuesday passed the Evers maps. While skeptical Democrats voted against the governor’s plans, many of the party’s leaders praised Evers’ signing of the new maps Monday.
“Wisconsin will now not be among the many most gerrymandered states within the nation,” Assembly Democratic Leader Greta Neubauer said in a statement. Neubauer, who voted against the maps, added that “that is the start of a new period in Wisconsin — the place the need of the folks will as soon as once more be the law of the land.”
Senate Democratic Leader Dianne Hesselbein said in a statement that the new maps are “an enormous win for the folks of Wisconsin” — even though she voted against the maps.
Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler said the new maps will have a “reverse coattails” effect benefitting Democrats in the statewide presidential and U.S. Senate races this year because more legislative races will be competitive.
Republicans described having no better option. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said just before the bill was passed that the maps were a “big win” for Evers and that under them, “the Legislature might be up for grabs.”
Other Republicans were even more stark.
“Republicans weren’t caught between a rock and onerous place,” Republican state Sen. Van Wanggaard said in a statement. “It was a matter of selecting to be stabbed, shot, poisoned or led to the guillotine. We selected to be stabbed, so we are able to stay to combat one other day.”
Democrats also raised concerns that under the bill, the maps wouldn’t take effect immediately. That raises a legal question for any special or recall elections that take place before November, given that the state Supreme Court already ruled that the old maps are unconstitutional.
Evers said Monday that “these maps will take impact instantly after publication and might be in place for the autumn elections.” He also asked the state Supreme Court to clarify that the maps will be in effect for any special elections prior to the November election.
Under the new maps, there would be 15 incumbents in the Assembly who would be forced to run against another incumbent and six such pairings in the Senate. Only one of the Assembly pairings would pit one Democratic incumbent against another one. In the Senate, the only Democratic pairing contains an incumbent who has already determined to not run this fall.
Litigation continues in additional than a dozen states over U.S. House and state legislative districts that had been enacted after the 2020 census.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court additionally has been requested by Democrats to take up a problem to the state’s congressional district strains. The lawsuit argues the courtroom’s choice to order new state legislative maps opens the door to difficult the congressional map. Republicans maintain six of the state’s eight congressional seats.
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