New Wisconsin Legislative Maps Diminish GOP Advantage

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed new legislative maps Monday that could dramatically alter the state's balance of power, giving Democrats a chance to gain control of the state Legislature for the first time in more than a decade.

“When I promised that I wanted fair maps — not maps that are better for one party or the other — I damn well meant it,” Evers, who signed the maps after the state Supreme Court ordered new maps, said in an declaration.

Despite the state being a battleground in national races, Republicans, aided by heavily gerrymandered maps, have controlled both state legislative chambers. since 2011. They now have about two-thirds of the seats in both the Senate and the General Assembly.

But it seems likely that Democrats will gain seats under the new maps, which will be used in the November elections. The maps paint a nearly even split between Democratic and Republican districts: 45 are Democratic-leaning, 46 are Republican-leaning, and eight are likely to be a toss-up, according to an analysis from The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Different incumbents are drawn into each other's districts, The Associated Press reported.

“Wisconsin is not a red state or blue state – we are a purple state, and I believe our maps should reflect that basic fact,” Mr. Evers said. “Today is a victory, not for me or any political party, but for our state and for the people of Wisconsin, who for a decade have demanded more and better from us as elected officials.

Although Democrats have long tried to overturn the previous plans, their hopes were renewed when the state Supreme Court switched to a four-to-three liberal majority in August after Judge Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal former Milwaukee County judge, sworn. won the most expensive judicial election in American history in April, openly critical of Republican-drawn maps and arguing they were “rigged.”

Progressive groups filed a lawsuit against those maps the day after she was sworn in. In December, the court ruled 4-3 that the Republican-favoring legislative maps were unconstitutional and ordered new maps before the 2024 elections. The court said that if the governor and legislature did not produce new maps, they would determine the new cards themselves.

“This is a shift in the plate tectonics of Wisconsin politics, and it will have national implications because Wisconsin is the tipping point for the country,” said Ben Wikler, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

Mr. Wikler said he believed the map changes would help increase turnout in the fall state elections, with districts that were previously non-competitive now suddenly doing so.

“It will bring new energy to our politics in a way that I think will help the pro-Democratic candidates, which in 2024 means Democrats, from the presidential campaign, to the Senate campaign, to House races and whatever else,” he said.

Robin Vos, the Republican speaker of the State Assembly, issued a statement Monday appearing to view the new maps as a limited victory for Republicans, saying that Mr. Evers “signed the most Republican maps of any Democrat.” gerrymander maps pending in the Wisconsin Supreme Court.”

“This legislation puts an end to this sham litigation designed to deliver legally gerrymandered Democratic tickets to the liberal special interest groups that fund these lawsuits,” Mr. Vos said. He added that Republicans would “prove in the fall that we can win on all maps because we have the better policy ideas.”

The new maps passed both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature last week. largely aided by Republicans who didn't want the liberal-controlled court to rule them instead. Mr Evers in January vetoed another set of cards favorite with the Republicans.

Democrats in the state have done the same sued to challenge the state's congressional maps and shortly after the court called for new statewide maps, they asked it to take up the case. Six of the state's eight congressional seats are held by Republicans. The lawsuit against these maps remains pending, and the Supreme Court has not said whether it will have an impact.