Wisconsin Democrats move closer to overturning legislative maps drawn by Republicans – Winnipeg Free Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Democrats are moving closer to overturning Republican legislative maps that the GOP has used for the past 13 years to expand majorities and advance their agendas.

At issue in Wisconsin's battleground state are state assembly and senate district boundaries in the purple state, where Democrats have won significant statewide victories while Republicans have held tight control of the Legislature.

Republicans drew the lines in 2011, and Democratic court challenges 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 model and left largely the same lines in place.

In the Democrats' latest lawsuit, the lines drawn by Republicans were unconstitutional because not all districts are contiguous, meaning some districts are cut off from the rest of the district. The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed in December, ordering new maps to be drawn in time for the November election.

Here's a look at where things stand now.

WHAT IS AT RISK?

Who has the most boundaries? When Republicans took control of the majority after the 2010 election, they held a 19-14 majority in the Senate and a 57-38 majority in the Assembly. After the 2022 election, their majority increased to 22-11 in the Senate and 65-34 in the Assembly.

WHAT IS THE POLICY?

Democrats filed their latest lawsuit a day after Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz moved to liberal majority control in August. His vote was the difference in a 4-3 decision that tossed the Republican cards.

WHAT CAN REPUBLICANS DO?

Republicans are running out of options to stop redrawing the lines. They argued that Protasiewicz should not hear the lawsuit because he said the maps drawn by the GOP during his campaign were “false” and “unfair.” But he did not give up. Republicans are now talking about taking that issue and others to the U.S. Supreme Court, alleging a violation of due process.

WHAT WILL THE NEW CARDS BE LIKE?

Consultants hired by the Wisconsin Supreme Court said Thursday that they examined maps presented by the Republican legislature and a conservative law firm. They raised no concerns about any of the four other Democratic-drawn maps, but left the constitutionality issue to the Supreme Court.

The consultants found that the remaining four maps were essentially identical, and they or the court could make adjustments to strengthen how each map met certain criteria, including continuity, political balance, and maintaining communities of interest.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Responses to the consultants' report are due on February 8.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Democratic advocates praised the results in public statements and said Wisconsin is closer than ever to ending Republican gerrymandering. Republicans called the report favoring Democratic maps bogus and a “fog of false sophistication.”

The court can ask the consultants to make amendments to the map, or the court can accept one of the four proposals already submitted.

The new maps are likely to be released between February 9 and March 15, when the Wisconsin Elections Commission issues new ways for the fall election. The deadline ensures that candidates know the district lines before receiving nomination papers to appear on the ballot.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER CHALLENGES?

Litigation continues in more than a dozen states for US House and state legislative districts drawn after the 2020 census.

Democrats have asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to challenge the state's congressional district lines. The lawsuit argues that the court's decision to order new state legislative maps opens the way to challenge the congressional map. Republicans hold six of the state's eight seats.

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The story was corrected in the last paragraph to say Republicans hold six of the state's eight seats, not five.