According to the Wisconsin State Journal, liberals and redistricting advocacy groups alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that Republicans’ gerrymander of Wisconsin’s legislative maps is so extreme that it violates the state constitution. The lawsuit, filed directly with the state Supreme Court, seeks to redraw the maps that all but guarantee GOP control of the Legislature.
The lawsuit requested new legislative maps just one day after Justice Janet Protasiewicz was publicly sworn into office and ahead of the 2024 election. The complaint would undo last year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court decision that led to an increased Republican majority in the Assembly and a supermajority in the Senate; however, the case does not challenge the state’s congressional maps.
Redistricting experts say it’s unlikely that any new set of legislative maps would give Democrats a legislative majority — Republicans are spread over the state, while Democrats are concentrated in the state’s biggest cities. They also confirm, however, that Wisconsin’s maps are among the most gerrymandered in the nation; Democrats would likely win several additional seats under nonpartisan maps.
The plaintiffs are requesting for every state legislator to be on the ballot next year under newly drawn maps, including the half of state Senators who would otherwise not be on the ballot until 2026. Candidates elected to those Senate seats would serve two-year terms; four-year terms would begin again with the election in 2026.
