An independent review of the proposals found that most of the freshly authorized maps redrawing Wisconsin's legislative borders will maintain Republicans in majority but lessen their dominance. Seven sets of new state Senate and Assembly maps were filed on Friday, the deadline set by the Wisconsin Supreme Court three weeks ago after ruling that Republican plans were unconstitutional. This verdict will shake up battleground Wisconsin politics in a presidential election year.
Four of the previous six presidential elections in purple Wisconsin were decided by less than 1%. In 2018 and 2022, Democrats won the governorship and majority control of the state Supreme Court, laying the groundwork for the redistricting ruling. The GOP has tightened its dominance on the Legislature under legislative maps passed by Republicans in 2011 and 2022 with minor revisions, barring Gov. Tony Evers and Democratic lawmakers' key policy objectives for five years.
Republicans control the Senate with a 22-11 supermajority and the Assembly with 64-35. A supermajority in both chambers would overrule Evers' vetoes. He has vetoed more bills than any Wisconsin governor.
The Supreme Court ordered new maps because the legislative boundary lines were not continuous, creating districts with separated property in contravention of the state constitution. According to the court, new maps with continuous districts must not favor one party over another.
The Dec. 22 verdict sparked a mad scramble to meet the state elections commission's March 15 deadline for new border lines for the August primary. By June 1, candidates must submit nomination papers signed by district residents.
The Supreme Court's two experts will review Friday's map submissions and report by Feb. 1. The consultants might discard the maps from last week and propose their own idea. The maps might be accepted with or without revisions. The Supreme Court will implement a map until the Legislature approves plans Evers would sign, which is doubtful.
On Friday, Republican and Democratic politicians, Evers, a conservative Wisconsin legal company, a liberal law firm that initiated the redistricting complaint, mathematics professors, and a redistricting consultant submitted fresh maps.
John D. Johnson, a Marquette University Law School research scholar, used a statistical model to estimate the 2022 state legislature election outcomes in the newly proposed districts. The presidential election will boost turnout for Senate races this year. However, the study suggests that the Assembly designs would maintain a Republican majority from one to 29 seats.