MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed new legislative district maps into legislation 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 traces.
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, whilst Democrats have received 14 of the previous 17 statewide elections.
Democrats are virtually sure to realize seats within the state Assembly and state Senate beneath the brand new maps, which be in place for the November election. Republicans have been working since 2011 beneath maps they drew that have been acknowledged as among the many most gerrymandered within the nation.
Democrats tried unsuccessfully for greater than a decade to overturn the Republican-drawn maps. But it wasn’t till management of the state Supreme Court flipped in August after the election of liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz that Democrats discovered a successful formulation.
They filed a lawsuit the day after Protasiewicz joined the court docket. Republicans argued that Protasiewicz shouldn’t hear the lawsuit as a result of she stated throughout her marketing campaign that the GOP-drawn maps have been “rigged” and “unfair.” But she didn’t recuse herself.
Protasiewicz ended up offering the deciding fourth vote in a December ruling that declared the present maps to be unconstitutional as a result of not all the districts have been contiguous, which means some areas have been geographically disconnected from the remainder of the district. The court docket stated it might draw the traces if the Legislature couldn’t go maps that Evers would signal.
The court docket accepted maps from the governor, Democratic and Republican lawmakers, in addition to three different events to the redistricting lawsuit. Consultants employed by the court docket decided that maps submitted by the Legislature and a conservative legislation agency have been “partisan gerrymanders,” leaving the court docket with 4 Democratic-drawn maps to select from.
Facing a mid-March deadline from the state elections fee for brand new maps to be in place, the Legislature on Tuesday handed the Evers maps. Republicans described having no higher possibility, whereas skeptical Democrats voted in opposition to the governor’s plans, saying they feared being tricked by Republicans.
“It pains me to say it, but Gov. Evers gets a huge win today,” Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos stated simply earlier than the invoice handed, including that beneath the brand new maps, “the Legislature will be up for grabs.”
Other Republicans have been much more stark.
“Republicans were not stuck between a rock and hard place,” Republican state Sen. Van Wanggaard stated in an announcement. “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.”
Democrats additionally raised issues that beneath the invoice, the maps wouldn’t take impact instantly. That raises a authorized query for any particular or recall elections that happen earlier than November, provided that the state Supreme Court already dominated that the previous maps are unconstitutional.
Under the brand new maps, there could be 15 incumbents within the Assembly who could be pressured to run in opposition to one other incumbent and 6 such pairings within the Senate. Only one of many Assembly pairings would pit one Democratic incumbent in opposition to one other one. In the Senate, the one 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 have 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 traces. The lawsuit argues the court docket’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.