Wisconsin Democrats inch closer to overturning Republican-drawn legislative maps
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Democrats are moving closer to overturning Republican-drafted legislative plans that the GOP has used to grow their majorities and advance their agenda over the past 13 years.
In the battleground state of Wisconsin, the boundaries of state Assembly and Senate districts are at issue in a purple state, where Republicans have maintained tight control of the Legislature while Democrats have scored significant victories statewide.
Republicans drew the lines in 2011, and Democratic court challenges since then have so far failed to overturn them. Republican maps adopted by the conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2022 used the 2011 map as a template and kept largely the same lines.
The Democrats’ latest lawsuit claimed that the lines drawn by Republicans were unconstitutional because not all of the districts were contiguous, meaning some areas were disconnected from the rest of the district. The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed in December and ordered new maps to be drawn before the November election.
Here’s how things currently stand.
Who has the most boundary lines. When Republicans took majority control after the 2010 elections, they had a 19-14 advantage in the Senate and 57-38 in the General Assembly. After the 2022 elections, their majorities increased to 22-11 in the Senate and a supermajority of 65-34 in the General Assembly.
Democrats filed their latest lawsuit after the Wisconsin Supreme Court switched to the liberal majority in August following Judge Janet Protasiewicz’s election win. Her vote made the difference in the Dec. 4-3 ruling that threw the Republican maps into disarray.
Republicans are running out of options to prevent the lines from being redrawn. They argued that Protasiewicz should not hear the lawsuit because she said during her campaign that the maps drawn up by the Republican Party were “rigged” and “dishonest.” But she didn’t withdraw herself. Now Republicans are talking about raising this issue, and others, in an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court for due process violations.
Consultants hired by the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday said the maps submitted by the Republican Legislature and a conservative law firm were gerrymandered. They raised no concerns about any of the four other maps drawn up by Democrats, but left the question of constitutionality to the Supreme Court.
The consultants determined that the four remaining maps were substantially the same, and that adjustments could be made by them or the court to enhance how well each map meets certain criteria, including contiguity, political balance and the preservation of communities of interest.
Responses to the consultants’ report are expected on February 8.
In public statements, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Democratic lawyers touted their findings and said Wisconsin is closer than ever to ending Republican gerrymandering. Republicans have since dismissed the report supporting the Democratic maps as bogus and a “fog of false sophistication.”
The court could ask the consultants to revise a map, or the court could adopt one of the four proposals already submitted.
It is likely that the new maps will be released between February 9 and March 15, the deadline set by the Wisconsin Elections Commission for implementing new rules for the fall elections. The deadline ensures candidates know the district lines before pulling out nomination papers to get on the ballot.
Litigation continues in more than a dozen states over U.S. House of Representatives and state legislative districts enacted after the 2020 census.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has also been asked by Democrats to take up a challenge to congressional district boundaries. The lawsuit argues that the court’s decision to order new state legislative maps opens the door to challenges to the congressional map. Republicans hold five of the state’s eight congressional seats.