Wisconsin: Governor Signs GOP Redistricting Map

Facts

• Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed new legislative district maps drawn by the majority-Republican legislature on Monday. Following over a decade of unchallenged Republican maps, the Democrats are now likely to gain more seats in the 2024 election.¹
• This comes after the election of the liberal state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz in August flipped the balance of the bench and allowed the court to rule the Republicans' original maps unconstitutional. The court said it would draw the lines if no maps Evers would sign could be passed.²
• The old maps had given Republicans 64 out of 99 seats in the state Assembly and 22 out of 33 seats in the Senate. Following the 4-3 court ruling, however, the newly-drawn maps are believed to split the party advantages evenly.³
• The new maps will also pit 15 incumbent officeholders against each other, including two Democrats, in the Assembly, as well as six in the Senate. The Senate would also see two already-elected Democrats face each other, but one of them has already decided not to run for reelection.²
• The maps only pertain to the state legislature, not US Congressional districts, in which Republicans still hold a six-to-two majority.⁴

Sources: ¹ABC News, ²FOX News, ³NBC and ⁴washingtonpost.com.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by ProPublica. The old Republican-drawn maps turned the state into a slice of Swiss cheese, carving out detached districts to ensure the GOP always won big. While the Republicans may still achieve a majority in the upcoming election, the state will look a lot more representative than in the past. Democrats should celebrate this historic win against gerrymandering and work hard to capitalize on the actual representative democracy the people have been asking for.
• Republican narrative, as provided by Wall Street Journal. Wisconsin's maps were deemed appropriate for years under the supervision of state courts and legislatures as well as federal courts. It was only after Protasiewicz — who, in an unprecedented fashion, campaigned on ordering a redraw — was elected that their fairness was questioned. The sad irony here is that Wisconsin Democrats have just used court-ordered gerrymandering in their so-called fight against gerrymandering.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Center for American Progress. Both Democrats and Republicans gerrymander massively, making American democracy far from fair. Election laws should change.