In what is being heralded as the end of an era of extreme gerrymandering in Wisconsin, the state’s Supreme Court has taken a definitive step towards fairer elections with the implementation of new state legislative maps. With a narrow 4-3 decision in December, the court struck down the previous maps, which had been criticized for their distorted design favoring Republicans, marking a potential shift in the state’s political landscape.
The previous maps had enabled Republicans to maintain a disproportionate grip on the state legislature. In 2022, despite Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, winning re-election with 51.2% of the vote, Republicans still secured 65% of the seats in the state assembly, highlighting the skewed nature of the districting.
The change comes after the Supreme Court deemed the many non-contiguous districts of the previous plan as violating the state constitutional requirement for contiguity. The court invited the legislature, governor, and various parties to propose new maps and set itself up as the ultimate arbiter, drawing its maps if the other stakeholders couldn’t reach an agreement.
The new maps, passed by the Republican-led legislature and drawn by Governor Evers, bring a dramatic reshaping of Wisconsin politics. According to John Johnson, a research fellow at Marquette Law School, “In its simplest form it means we don’t know which party is gonna control the state assembly after the November election. That hasn’t been true for over a decade.”
With the new maps set to be in effect for the November election, Democrats are poised to secure additional seats in both the state Assembly and state Senate. Republicans have been utilizing heavily gerrymandered maps since 2011, which were acknowledged as some of the most gerrymandered in the nation.
The Republican decision to adopt Governor Evers’ maps may have been strategic, as it pairs fewer incumbents in districts than other proposals and maintains a majority in the state senate, allowing Republicans to retain control of a chamber until the end of Evers’ second term in 2026.
“It pains me to say it, but Gov. Evers gets a huge win today,” Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said just before the bill passed, adding that under the new maps, “the Legislature will be up for grabs.”
“Republicans were not stuck between a rock and a hard place,” Republican state Sen. Van Wanggaard said in a statement. “It was a matter of choosing to be stabbed, shot, poisoned, or led to the guillotine. We chose to be stabbed, so we can live to fight another day.”
Relevant articles:
– Wisconsin’s extreme gerrymandering era ends as new maps come into force
– Wisconsin’s Democratic governor signs his new state legislative maps into law, POLITICO, Mon, 19 Feb 2024 15:43:01 GMT
– Analysis of Proposed Legislative Redistricting Plans submitted to the Wisconsin Supreme Court – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog, Marquette University Law School, Sat, 13 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT
– Wisconsin Supreme Court consultants say Republican-drawn legislative maps are gerrymanders, don’t deserve consideration, WPR, Thu, 01 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT