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Suit to Redraw WI Congressional Maps 07/10 06:21
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A new lawsuit seeking to redraw Wisconsin's
congressional district boundary lines was filed on Tuesday, less than two weeks
after the state Supreme Court declined to hear a pair of other lawsuits that
asked for redistricting before the 2026 election.
The latest lawsuit brought by a bipartisan coalition of business leaders was
filed in Dane County circuit court, rather than directly with the state Supreme
Court as the rejected cases were. The justices did not give any reason for
declining to hear those cases, but typically lawsuits start in a lower court
and work their way up.
This new lawsuit's more lengthy journey through the courts might not be
resolved in time to order new maps before the 2026 midterms.
The Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy argue in the new lawsuit that
Wisconsin's congressional maps are unconstitutional because they are an
anti-competitive gerrymander. The lawsuit notes that the median margin of
victory for candidates in the eight districts since the maps were enacted is
close to 30 percentage points.
"Anticompetitive gerrymanders are every bit as antithetical to democracy,
and to law, as partisan gerrymanders and racial gerrymanders," the lawsuit
argues. "This is because electoral competition is as vital to democracy as
partisan fairness."
The lawsuit alleges that an anti-competitive gerrymander violates the state
constitution's guarantees of equal protection to all citizens, the promise to
maintain a free government and the right to vote.
The lawsuit was filed against the state's bipartisan elections commission,
which administers elections. Commission spokesperson Emilee Miklas declined to
comment.
The Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy had attempted to intervene in
one of the redistricting cases brought by Democrats with the state Supreme
Court, but the justices dismissed the case without considering their arguments.
Members of the business coalition include Tom Florsheim, chairman and CEO of
Milwaukee-based Weyco Group, and Cory Nettles, the founder of a private equity
fund and a former state commerce secretary.
Republicans hold six of the state's eight U.S. House seats, but only two of
those districts are considered competitive. In 2010, the year before
Republicans redrew the congressional maps, Democrats held five seats compared
with three for Republicans.
The current congressional maps, which were based on the previous ones, were
approved by the state Supreme Court when it was controlled by conservative
judges. The U.S. Supreme Court in March 2022 declined to block them from taking
effect.
Democrats had wanted the justices to revisit congressional lines as well
after the court ordered state legislative boundaries redrawn before last year's
election. Democrats then narrowed the Republican legislative majorities in
November, leading to a bipartisan compromise to pass a state budget last week.
Democrats are pushing to have the current maps redrawn in ways that would
put two of the six seats currently held by Republicans into play. One they hope
to flip is the western Wisconsin seat of Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who
won in 2022 after longtime Democratic Rep. Ron Kind retired. Von Orden won
reelection in the 3rd District in 2024.
The other seat they are eyeing is southeastern Wisconsin's 1st District,
held by Republican Rep. Bryan Steil since 2019. The latest maps made that
district more competitive while still favoring Republicans.
The two rejected lawsuits were filed by Elias Law Group, which represents
Democratic groups and candidates, and the Campaign Legal Center on behalf of
voters.
Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy are represented by Law Forward, a
liberal Madison-based law firm, the Stafford Rosenbaum law firm in Madison and
Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School.
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