Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed new legislative plans Monday that could dramatically alter the state’s balance of power and give Democrats a chance to gain control of the state Legislature for the first time in more than a decade.
“When I promised I wanted fair maps — not maps that were better for one party or the other — I meant damn well,” said Mr. Evers, who drew the maps after the state Supreme Court approved new maps had ordered in a statement.
Although the state is a battleground in national races, Republicans, aided by heavily gerrymandered maps, have controlled both of the state’s legislative chambers since 2011. They now hold about two-thirds of the seats in both the Senate and the Assembly.
But Democrats are expected to gain seats under the new maps used in the November election. The maps show an almost even split between Democratic- and Republican-leaning districts: 45 are Democratic, 46 are Republican and eight are likely to be a toss-up, according to an analysis by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. According to the Associated Press, multiple incumbents are being drawn into each other’s districts.
“Wisconsin is not a red 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 have spent a decade demanding more and demanding better from us as elected officials.”
While Democrats have long sought to overturn the previous maps, their hopes were renewed when the state Supreme Court swung to a liberal majority of 4 in August following the swearing in of Judge Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal former judge from Milwaukee County 3 changed. Judge Protasiewicz won the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history in April, openly criticizing the maps drawn by Republicans and arguing that they were “rigged.”
Progressive groups filed a lawsuit challenging those maps the day after she was sworn in. In December, the court ruled 4-3 that the legislative plans favoring Republicans were unconstitutional and ordered new maps ahead of the 2024 election. The court said that if the governor and Legislature did not create new maps, they would set the new maps themselves.
“This is a shift in the plate tectonics of Wisconsin politics, and it will have national implications because Wisconsin is the tipping point state for the country,” said Ben Wikler, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.
Mr. Wikler said he believed the map changes would help increase voter turnout in state elections this fall because districts that had previously been uncompetitive would now suddenly do so.
“It will bring new energy to our politics in a way that I think will help the pro-Democratic candidates, so Democrats in 2024, from the presidential race to the Senate race to the House races and everything others,” he said.
Robin Vos, the Republican speaker of the state Assembly, issued a statement Monday in which he appeared to portray the new maps as a limited victory for Republicans, saying that Mr. Evers “signed the most Republican-leaning maps of any Democrat.” . -Gerrymandered maps will be considered by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.”
“This legislation ends this sham litigation designed to deliver court-rigged Democratic maps to the liberal special interest groups that are funding this litigation,” Mr. Vos said. He added that in the fall, Republicans would “prove that we can win on any map because we have better policy ideas.”
The new maps passed both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature last week, largely with support from Republicans who did not want them to be set by the liberal-controlled court instead. Mr. Evers vetoed another set of maps favored by Republicans in January.
Democrats in the state have also filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s congressional maps, and shortly after the court called for new statewide maps, they asked it to take up the matter. Six of the state’s eight congressional seats are held by Republicans. The lawsuit against those cards remains pending, and the Supreme Court has not said whether it will play a role.
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2024-02-19 19:51:44
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