Lawsuit challenging Wisconsin's legislative maps filed at the state Supreme Court

MADISON – A lawsuit aimed at rewriting Wisconsin's legislative maps to favor Republicans less was filed Wednesday at the state Supreme Court, a day after the state's highest court flipped to liberal control for the first time in years.

Law Forward, a Madison-based liberal-leaning law firm focused on voting issues, is bringing the legal challenge straight to the Supreme Court. By bypassing lower courts, the challenge would be expedited and could lead to an outcome before the 2024 elections.

“In the past 12 years, one political party captured the Legislature and has insulated itself from being answerable to the voters,” Jeff Mandell, partner at Stafford Rosenbaum and board president of Law Forward, said in a statement.

“Despite the fact that our legislative branch is meant to be the most directly representative of the people, the gerrymandered maps have divided our communities, preventing fair representation. This has eroded confidence in our political system, suppressed competitive elections, skewed policy outcomes, and undermined democratic representation. We have endured 12 years of rule by right-wing interests, and the voters of Wisconsin deserve fair representation.”

The petition to the court argues the existing maps "retaliate against some voters based on their viewpoint and free speech, in violation of Wisconsin’s guarantee of free speech ... treat some voters worse than others based on their political views and where they live in violation of Wisconsin’s guarantee of equality ... and violate the promise of a free government found in the Wisconsin constitution."

The lawsuit, brought by 19 Wisconsin residents and represented by Law Forward, argues that by adopting a set of maps vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers in 2021, the state Supreme Court violated separation of powers rules. It also argues the maps violate the state's constitution because some districts include pieces of land that are not connected, like Senate District 22 in the southeast area of the state and Senate Districts 16 and 26 in Madison.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission and state senators representing odd-numbered districts are named as respondents in the lawsuit. The lawsuit relies on a legal remedy known as a writ of quo warranto, which can be used to challenge a lawmaker's right to hold office. If the lawsuit is successful, it will force the senators to run in new districts in a special election in 2024 for a new two-year term despite being in the middle of a four-year term.

Mandell said in a Wednesday news conference the suit does not challenge Assembly districts or the rest of the Senate districts because those lawmakers are already up for re-election in 2024.

The respondents include:

• Sen. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, in District 1

• Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, in District 3

• Sen. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, in District 5

• Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, in District 7

• Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, in District 9

• Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, in District 11

• Sen. John Jagler, R-Watertown, in District 13

• Sen. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, in District 15

• Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, in District 17

• Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton, in District 19

• Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, in District 21

• Sen. Jesse James, R-Altoona, in District 23

• Sen. Romaine Quinn, R-Cameron, in District 25

• Sen. Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, in District 27

• Sen. Cory Tomczyk, R-Mosinee, in District 29

• Sen. Jeff Smith, D-Eau Claire, in District 31

• Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, in District 33

Republicans question the timing of the suit after Protasiewicz installment

LeMahieu, in a statement, questioned the timing of the lawsuit, coming a day after Justice Janet Protasiewicz was sworn in for a 10-year term on the court and for the moment giving liberals a 4-3 majority.

“Wisconsin’s current legislative maps are valid and constitutional. Instead of redefining their radical political platform to match the values of everyday Wisconsinites, liberal Democrats are counting on judicial fiat to help them gain power," he said.

"The timing of this lawsuit questions the integrity of the court. It’s clear that liberal interest groups are coming to collect from Justice Protasiewicz after her campaign broke judicial code to earn their financial support earlier this year."

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said he expects Protasiewicz to recuse from the case given her comments during the campaign about the legislative maps.

Spreitzer, who also is named as a respondent along with LeMahieu, said he welcomed a new election.

“As I have repeatedly said, voters should choose their elected officials, not the other way around," he said in a statement. "Wisconsin should have had fair maps last year, but now we have a chance to have fair maps in 2024. Last November, I was elected to a four-year term, and I will continue to work hard to represent the constituents who elected me until the next election."

"However, it is only fair for the entire legislature – including the 15th Senate District – to be up for election next year, so that voters will have the opportunity to elect the legislators of their choice on fair maps."

Among the plaintiffs are Ruben Anthony, the CEO of the Urban League of Greater Madison; Sheboygan County Commissioner Rebecca Clarke; former Appleton library director Terry Dawson; Waukesha Technical College associate faculty member Dana Glasstein; and Lodi Mayor and former Assembly candidate Ann Groves-Lloyd and former Wisconsin Poet Laureate Dee Sweet.

Political districts typically are redrawn once every 10 years, following the completion of the U.S. Census. The legislative districts must have equal populations, but where the lines go can confer advantages on one political party over another.

The current maps tilt heavily in Republicans’ favor, with 63 of the 99 Assembly seats and 23 of the 33 Senate seats leaning toward the GOP, according to a December analysis by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Protasiewicz said during her Supreme Court campaign that the state's election maps were "rigged" and designed to take away votes from people in larger communities, including Dane and Milwaukee counties.

"They do not reflect people in this state. I don't think you could sell any reasonable person that the maps are fair," she said at a January campaign forum. "I can't tell you what I would do on a particular case, but I can tell you my values, and the maps are wrong."

More: New liberal majority on state Supreme Court to fire director of state court system

Evers and Republicans who control the Legislature couldn't agree on new maps following the U.S. Census, so it fell to the state Supreme Court to decide on the districts. In a 4-3 ruling in 2022, the justices picked Evers' maps, which had a Republican tilt to them even though they were drawn by a Democrat.

Republican lawmakers appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which found the state court had not provided enough evidence justifying why the state was increasing the number of Assembly districts with Black majorities in Milwaukee from six to seven.

The U.S. Supreme Court left in place the congressional district boundaries drawn by Evers and approved by the state Supreme Court. The 2022 decision by the state court affects only races for the state Legislature.

In the state Supreme Court ruling, the justices concluded Evers had not provided enough evidence to show why race should be taken into account when drawing districts in Milwaukee. The Republican-drawn maps they adopted reduced the number of Assembly districts in Milwaukee with Black majorities from six to five.

Evers, in a statement, said the petition "is great news for our democracy."

“For years, members of the Wisconsin State Legislature have consistently ignored the will of the people, and they’ve been able to do so comfortably and without facing any real accountability because they have gerrymandered themselves into safe, partisan districts. It’s time for that to change,” he said.

Wisconsin redistricting: See your new voting map, representative

Laura Schulte of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lawsuit challenging Wisconsin redistricting filed with Supreme Court