Wisconsin Supreme Court Orders GOP Maps Redrawn
The election of Janet Protasiewicz to the Wisconsin Supreme Court has resulted in the exact outcome that we had all anticipated.
She ran on a platform of overturning the district maps submitted by the GOP, and she provided the swing vote to declare those maps invalid.
On Friday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the maps were heavily gerrymandered in favor of the GOP and they must be redrawn.
The Ruling
The court ruled that the state’s constitution calls for a requirement of “contiguous territories” in legislative districts was violated.
The majority decision stated, “At least 50 of 99 assembly districts and at least 20 of 33 senate districts violate this mandate, rendering them unconstitutional.”
Republicans currently hold a 64-35 edge in the House and a 22-11 majority in the Senate.
Per the ruling, the state legislature and Democrat Governor Tony Evers are now tasked with redrawing the maps to be approved by the court. If the new maps are not approved, the court will take over the task of redrawing district maps.
In the dissenting opinions, the conservative justices shredded the majority opinion, even directly calling out Protasiewicz, who openly stated that she thought the maps needed to be redrawn during her campaign.
One justice wrote, “This deal was sealed on election night.”
This is the first time in 15 years that a liberal ideology has control of the state Supreme Court, and it is already paying dividends for Democrats.
The new maps will be put in place in the 2024 election, which could have a significant impact on the Republicans' ability to hold control of Congress, a majority that is already razor-thin and has been cut thinner by other maps that were drawn in favor of Democrats.
Quite frankly, with how Republicans have handled the majority during this term, it will be a small miracle if they are able to keep the majority, more or less rendering a Republican win of the White House moot if the Republican nominee manages to win the 2024 election.
