{"id":31837,"date":"2024-02-18T13:12:49","date_gmt":"2024-02-18T21:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=31837"},"modified":"2024-02-18T13:12:49","modified_gmt":"2024-02-18T21:12:49","slug":"wisconsin-picks-new-legislative-maps-that-would-end-years-of-gop-gerrymandering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/02\/18\/wisconsin-picks-new-legislative-maps-that-would-end-years-of-gop-gerrymandering\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin Picks New Legislative Maps That Would End Years of GOP Gerrymandering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><div class=\"container\" style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 15px; max-width: 860px; margin: 0px auto; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, Times, Baskerville, serif; letter-spacing: 0.8px; white-space-collapse: collapse; background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"><header class=\"heading\" style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; letter-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(241, 241, 242); padding: 18px 54px; margin: 0px;\"><h1 data-title=\"\" style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; font-size: 26pt; margin: 0px 0px 1px; font-family: itc_-_itcavantgardestd-xlt, Arial, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;\">Wisconsin Picks New Legislative Maps That Would End Years of GOP Gerrymandering<\/h1><span class=\"author\" style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; display: flex; flex-flow: wrap; font-size: 14pt; font-family: itc_-_itcavantgardestd-bkobl, Arial, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, sans-serif;\"><span data-author=\"\" style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; display: block;\">Megan O\u2019Matz<\/span><span class=\"author-divider\" style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin-left: 8px; display: block;\">\/<\/span><span data-publication=\"\" style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin-left: 8px; display: block;\">ProPublica<\/span><\/span><\/header><img decoding=\"async\" data-image=\"\" style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; vertical-align: top; display: block; width: 830px; margin: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rsn.org\/images\/001\/055646-capitol-021824.jpg\" alt=\"Wisconsin Picks New Legislative Maps That Would End Years of GOP Gerrymandering\"><span class=\"image-caption\" style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; display: block; color: rgb(241, 241, 242); padding: 10px 50px 20px; font-family: begum-medium, Arial, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; margin: 0px 0px 20px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;\"><span data-credits=\"\" style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;\">Wisconsin state Capitol. 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max-height: 1e+06px; speak: none; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; line-height: 36px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; font-family: icomoon !important;\"><\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"bg-section-wrapper\" style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background: rgb(216, 216, 216); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, Times, Baskerville, serif; letter-spacing: 0.8px; white-space-collapse: collapse;\"><div class=\"container\" style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; padding: 0px 15px; max-width: 860px; margin: 0px auto;\"><span class=\"post-date\" data-date=\"\" data-value=\"18\/Feb\/2024\" style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; letter-spacing: 1px; display: block; font-size: 20pt; padding-bottom: 19px; text-align: center; text-transform: lowercase; font-family: editorcondensed-regular, Arial, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding-top: 30px;\">18 february 24<\/span><div data-content=\"\" style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; font-size: 17pt; font-family: editorcondensed-regular, Arial, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.25; max-width: initial; margin: 0px auto; hyphens: none; padding: 10px;\"><blockquote style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;\"><strong style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;\"><em style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px;\">Under legal pressure to address Wisconsin\u2019s \u201cSwiss cheese\u201d and oddly shaped districts, the Legislature approved redrawn maps that promise to create a new dynamic in a state known for its pivotal role in national politics.<\/em><\/strong><\/blockquote><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\"><dropcap style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 80pt; line-height: 70px; padding-top: 12px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 3px; font-family: begum-regular, Arial, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, sans-serif; float: left; margin-right: 6px;\">W<\/dropcap>isconsin\u2019s dinosaur-shaped legislative district could soon be history.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The curiously drawn district and other oddities associated with the state\u2019s extreme gerrymandering would be erased in new voting maps passed this week by the Wisconsin Legislature.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">A state Supreme Court decision finally forced Wisconsin Republicans to cede an advantage they enjoyed for more than a decade with maps that made the state one of the nation\u2019s foremost examples of gerrymandering.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The Senate and Assembly voted to adopt voting maps drawn by the office of Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat. Evers said a week ago that he would sign his redistricting plan into law if passed unchanged by the Legislature, and proponents of fairer maps have encouraged him to do so.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The surprising legislative development promises to end a six-month battle in front of the state\u2019s now left-leaning high court, which ruled the GOP maps unconstitutional shortly before Christmas.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The new design resolves many of the irregularities in the current electoral maps, chief among them the\u00a0<a style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/wisconsin-legislative-maps-bizarre-are-they-illegal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cSwiss cheese\u201d appearance<\/a>\u00a0that stranded some constituents in segments detached from the rest of their districts.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">One of the more obvious examples of partisan artifice was in the northwest corner of the state, in\u00a0<a style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/wisconsin-gop-gerrymander-elections-janet-protasiewicz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the 73rd Assembly District<\/a>, where the GOP had strategically added Republican areas and subtracted Democratic ones in a plan enacted in 2022. Residents joked the contours came to resemble a Tyrannosaurus rex.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The maneuver was successful. That year, a Republican won the seat, which had been held by Democrats for 50 years. The new map completely redraws that district and others.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">\u201cThe legislature will be up for grabs,\u201d Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said from the floor on Tuesday, the day the vote was taken.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">In an unusually magnanimous gesture, Vos said, \u201cPains me to say it, but Gov. Evers gets a huge win today.\u201d<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">Even under the governor\u2019s maps, the GOP is still expected to retain majorities in both chambers, though the party\u2019s advantage would likely be slimmer than the absolute authority it now commands, particularly in the Senate. Currently, the GOP has a supermajority in the Senate and a near supermajority in the Assembly.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">Vos acknowledged in a news conference that running under Evers\u2019 map is \u201cgoing to be more challenging, there\u2019s no doubt about that.\u201d But, he said, \u201cI still think we can win because we have a better message.\u201d<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">Prior to the legislative action, justices had been set to select new district maps from a group of proposals, including the one from Evers. Indications were the decision would not be favorable to the GOP.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">Rather than take their chances, Republicans decided to approve the governor\u2019s maps, which are considered to be \u201cfriendlier\u201d to the GOP than the others when measuring partisan bias and incumbent matchups.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">A Marquette University analysis determined that if the 2022 election had taken place under Evers\u2019 maps, it\u2019s likely that Democrats would have won an additional 11 seats in the Assembly and five in the Senate, neither enough to flip control.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">Nine Senate Democrats voted against Evers\u2019 plan, signaling concerns that the GOP\u2019s approval was a strategic ploy to be followed by a challenge in federal court from a Republican ally. \u201cI am voting no because I do not trust what you guys are up to,\u201d said Sen. Chris Larson, a Milwaukee Democrat.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">But Vos downplayed the likelihood of more court action, telling reporters Tuesday that he preferred to get on with the business of campaigning and talking about ideas with voters. \u201cI think that is a better answer than drawn-out court battles and going through millions of dollars of taxpayer expense when there\u2019s really no need to do so,\u201d he said.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The Assembly passed the governor\u2019s maps without debate. Only one Democrat voted yes.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">Democrats were unhappy with a provision in the bill that would stall the implementation of the new maps until November \u2014 a move seen to benefit Vos, who is facing a recall effort from constituents on the far right. Democrats also indicated a desire to let the state Supreme Court case play out.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">It was only six months ago that a new justice, Janet Protasiewicz, took office, tilting the court decidedly to the left. During her campaign, which she won in a landslide, she made it clear she would welcome the chance to review the constitutionality of the maps, flatly describing them as \u201crigged.\u201d<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">A day after her swearing-in ceremony, a maps case landed on the court\u2019s doorstep, brought by 19 Democratic voters. For months after Protasiewicz\u2019s election, Vos threatened to impeach her if she did not recuse herself from the case, claiming her remarks on the campaign trail made her biased. He later abandoned that tactic.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">On Dec. 22, the high court overturned the current maps and ordered the parties to propose new ones. The vote on the decision was 4-3, with Protasiewicz siding with the majority.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The court hired two academic consultants to analyze the proposals and issue a report evaluating the plans for their conformity to standard districting requirements, including compactness and equal population distribution.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The consultants found that plans offered by GOP lawmakers and by a conservative policy group constituted \u201cpartisan gerrymanders\u201d and should not be considered.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The four remaining proposals greenlit by the consultants were submitted by the plaintiffs, Evers\u2019 office, a group of Democratic senators, and a team of mathematicians and data scientists. The consultants \u2014 from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and the University of California, Irvine \u2014 determined that those four plans were \u201csimilar on most criteria.\u201d<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">Good-government groups applauded the possibility of a legislative agreement, largely because it brings about stability and a measure of political certainty until the next redistricting process, after the 2030 census. Besides, said Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, \u201cThe governor\u2019s maps are pretty darn good.\u201d<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">One of the key problems with the current maps, the court concluded, was that the districts had noncontiguous shapes.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The state\u2019s constitution stipulates that Assembly members must be elected from districts consisting of \u201ccontiguous territory.\u201d Likewise, Senate districts, which are each made up of three Assembly districts, must consist of \u201cconvenient contiguous territory.\u201d<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">Fifty-five of the state\u2019s 99 Assembly districts and 21 of 33 Senate districts contained \u201cdisconnected pieces of territory,\u201d according to the petition presented to the Supreme Court.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">\u201cA map can\u2019t be fair if it doesn\u2019t meet the requirements of the constitution,\u201d said Debbie Patel, founder of North Shore Fair Maps, a group of suburban Milwaukee residents who have been fighting for statewide maps that are not skewed in favor of either party.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The random islands or irregular blobs in the current maps are largely due to the annexation of land over time by cities and villages, resulting in disjointed municipal boundaries.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The Evers maps and the others under consideration fix that problem.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The 88th Assembly District, for example, which currently includes eastern portions of Green Bay, has a couple of islands and a hole that would be eliminated under Evers\u2019 plan.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The district\u2019s current occupant, Republican Rep. John Macco, voted yes Tuesday, even though his home would no longer be within the district\u2019s boundaries. \u201cThey literally carved me out by 581 feet. Intentionally,\u201d he said.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">He expects to have to sell his house and move to compete again there. \u201cI\u2019ll do whatever I have to do to represent the people of the 88th District,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">In northwest Wisconsin, Democrats hope they can reclaim the 73rd District under a new map. All four maps under court consideration relegate the \u201cT. rex\u201d to fossil status.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">Under Evers\u2019 iteration, the district would no longer stretch more than 100 miles south from the Minnesota border city of Superior. Instead, it would be more homogeneous, encompassing much of Douglas County, and reach farther east, embracing more of the coastal communities along Lake Superior.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">\u201cHistorically, you\u2019ll see from voting records, it\u2019s always been blue up here right along the lake,\u201d said Laura Gapske, a Democrat who narrowly lost in 2022 to the district\u2019s current representative, Republican Angie Sapik. Gapske handily carried Douglas County, with 58% of the vote. She\u2019s now running for the Superior School Board.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">Sapik, who wrote social media posts cheering on the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, has announced her reelection bid. She declined to speak to ProPublica but complained on Facebook in early February that the proposed maps \u201cwould make this district upwards of 65% Dem to 35% Republican. Does that sound like a \u2018Fair Map\u2019 to you?\u201d<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">One area where the four maps differed was in how they handled redistricting for territories aligned with Wisconsin\u2019s federally recognized Native American tribes.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The current GOP map divides four of 10 reservations into multiple Assembly districts, \u201cdisrespecting Tribal communities of interest,\u201d according to a brief filed by the Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes and the Lac du Flambeau tribe in Wisconsin. Lawyers for the tribes have argued that dividing tribal members among different districts dilutes their voting power.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The Lac du Flambeau tribe and the Midwest Alliance did not favor the governor\u2019s plan, supporting instead a proposal put forward by the group of mathematicians, in which each tribe would have had its own Assembly voting district.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">In its brief, the alliance called the mathematicians\u2019 proposal \u201chands down, the best map for all of Wisconsin, including Wisconsin\u2019s Indian people and communities.\u201d<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">A spokesperson for Evers told ProPublica in an email that \u201cthe governor\u2019s maps do unite tribal communities in several respects while still complying with constitutionally required criteria to minimize splitting community and county lines.\u201d<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">The Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition, while celebrating the prospect of new maps, is vowing to continue to push for a nonpartisan body, rather than politicians, to handle future redistricting plans.<\/p><p style=\"box-sizing: inherit; max-height: 1e+06px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem;\">\u201cThe coalition isn\u2019t done,\u201d said Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, which is part of the coalition. \u201cWe still need a legislative fix. We need an independent commission. We need, likely, a constitutional amendment that would codify that. So our work is not done.\u201d<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wisconsin Picks New Legislative Maps That Would End Years of GOP Gerrymandering Megan O\u2019Matz\/ProPublica Wisconsin state Capitol. (photo: Henryk Sadura\/Getty) go to original\u00a0\/\u00a0print version\u00a0\/\u00a0subscribe\u00a0\/\u00a0donate 18 february 24 Under legal pressure to address Wisconsin\u2019s \u201cSwiss cheese\u201d and oddly shaped districts, the Legislature approved redrawn maps that promise to create a new&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/02\/18\/wisconsin-picks-new-legislative-maps-that-would-end-years-of-gop-gerrymandering\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31837"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31838,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31837\/revisions\/31838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}