Both chambers of Wisconsin’s Republican-dominated legislature on Tuesday passed new maps for the state Assembly and state Senate that were proposed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. Yet even though Evers submitted those very maps to the state Supreme Court, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Molly Beck reports that the governor is “facing pressure by high-powered Democrats” to veto them.
Shortly after passage, however, a spokesperson for the governor reiterated his earlier promise to sign his maps if they were passed without changes. He has until Tuesday to act.
Wisconsin Republicans have fought relentlessly to preserve their extreme gerrymanders, which in 2022 gave them a veto-proof two-thirds supermajority in the Senate and left them just two seats shy of that mark in the Assembly. Last year, they repeatedly threatened to impeach newly elected Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz, who was part of the liberal majority struck down the GOP’s current gerrymanders and ordered fairer maps for 2024.
Desperate to avoid that fate, Republicans recently passed versions of Evers’ maps that were altered to protect GOP incumbents, prompting the governor to veto them. That turn of events caused Democratic legislators to be suspicious of the GOP’s apparent about-face, with Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer warning that Republicans might be “up to their usual tricks.”
Last month, the court received six sets of proposed maps from parties and interested outsiders, four of which a pair of court-appointed experts said met the court’s criteria for neutrality in a non-binding report. Of this quartet, Republicans reportedly believed the governor’s plans were “more favorable for them” than the other three submissions.
Data from Dave’s Redistricting App show that Joe Biden would have won an 18-15 majority of seats in the Senate, though with many districts just narrowly favoring the president. Meanwhile, Donald Trump would have won a 50-49 majority of seats in the Assembly in a state he lost by a slim margin.
However, Democratic lawmakers were nearly unanimous in their opposition to Evers’ approach, with some arguing that letting the court-supervised process play out could produce better maps. Democrats also focused their opposition on a separate provision in the bill that would prevent the new maps from taking effect before November’s general election, meaning the GOP’s current gerrymanders would remain in place for any recalls or special elections before then.
Despite his hardline record, GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is facing a recall effort from MAGA extremists for not fully embracing Trump’s election conspiracy theories, so this provision would ensure the recall would take place in his current district instead of a new one if the effort qualifies for the ballot.
In striking down the GOP’s maps, the Supreme Court laid out a two-track process for implementing remedial plans, both soliciting submissions from litigants and also giving legislators the chance to pass their own maps first. However, the court would still have to sign off on whether any newly enacted maps comply with the criteria it laid down, which include political neutrality along with other traditional nonpartisan considerations.
