Another battle over legislative district voting maps is underway in Wisconsin.
A liberal-leaning legal coalition representing 19 state residents has filed a lawsuit. The suit asks the Wisconsin Supreme Court to throw out GOP-drawn maps that the coalition says have unfairly allowed Republicans over the last 12 years to roll up big majorities in the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate, while statewide elections are usually close.
Coalition member and Harvard Law School Election Clinic Director Ruth Greenwood said look at how Republican mapmakers carved up Assembly districts in the city of Sheboygan.
"Sheboygan is a city that is basically the right size to be roughly a legislative district. So, you could draw that district and it would be competitive, but slightly lean Democratic. And that would reflect the underlying voters. Instead, you have Districts 26 and 27 that split Sheboygan in two. And those districts are contributing, we think, to this bias of Republican voters getting their legislative representatives," Greenwood said, during a Wednesday news conference held online.
GOP lawmakers represent both the 26th and 27th, as the district maps split Sheboygan into north and south halves and extend well into the small town and rural areas near the city.
The plaintiffs are asking the state Supreme Court to take up their case without going through a circuit court, and to consider whether partisan gerrymandering violates state constitutional promises of equal protection, free speech and free assembly. The election lawyers also argue many districts are not geographically contiguous, meaning some voters are cut off from people in the rest of the district.
If the lawsuit is successful, the plaintiffs said next year's Assembly elections could take place as scheduled, since representatives serve two-year terms. But that state Senators just elected to four-year terms last year — that's about half the 33-person Senate — would have to run in special elections in 2024 for two-year terms, then again for four-year terms in 2026.
Attorney Jeff Mandell is with the Madison firm Law Forward. "It's simply necessitated by how egregious the gerrymander is, and the need to restore constitutional norms and values," he said.
Devin LeMahieu of Oostburg is one of the senators who would have to run again next year, after easily-winning reelection last fall. He's the state Senate's Republican Majority Leader, and blistered the redistricting lawsuit in a written statement. He said the current maps are valid and constitutional, and that Democrats are counting on judicial fiat to help them gain power.
LeMahieu said the lawsuit being filed so soon after liberals have taken control of the state court — Justice Janet Protasiewicz was just sworn in Tuesday, shifting the balance of power — questions the integrity of the court.
But the plaintiffs said the case will take months, and if successful, probably involve the court hiring a specialist to help draw new maps, in time for candidates to submit nomination papers and run in next year's legislative elections.
