National Democrats ramp up efforts on legislative races under new Wisconsin maps

MADISON – The national Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is doubling its investment in Wisconsin legislative races following the enactment of new electoral maps that will Democrats their first shot at securing a majority in years.

The committee on Wednesday announced plans to contribute $24,000 to be split between campaigns in the state Senate and Assembly. The move follows a previous $24,000 investment in December.

Under Wisconsin's campaign finance laws, political action committees may contribute up to $12,000 to a state political party committee in a calendar year.

The DLCC is the Democratic Party's committee dedicated to winning seats in state legislatures. It announced plans on Wednesday to funnel nearly $300,000 into state-level elections in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina and New Hampshire.

The organization sees Wisconsin as one of its best opportunities to pick up seats with the implementation of new maps. Democrats currently hold 35 of 99 seats in the Assembly and 11 of 33 seats in the Senate.

“For too long, Wisconsin voters faced unfair, gerrymandered maps in the Legislature but with new maps this year we have new opportunities. We know the stakes of winning these crucial battleground states are high, with abortion, voting rights, fundamental freedoms and more on the line," said DLCC President Heather Williams in a statement.

"Our Democratic candidates need early and strong support to build sustainable winning campaigns — early investments are often what make or break races. That’s why the DLCC is on the ground early, working hand and hand with our caucus and campaign committees across the country so we can win in November and beyond."

Wisconsin Democrats have, since 2011, been unable to climb out of a deep minority in the state Legislature cemented when Republicans drew and passed legislative maps that were considered by redistricting experts to be some of the most gerrymandered electoral boundaries in the nation, delivering massive majorities in both houses for more than a decade.

That changed last week when Gov. Tony Evers signed into law a bill Republican lawmakers begrudgingly passed that implement new legislative maps drawn by the Democratic governor.

The 99 Assembly districts drawn by Evers are about evenly split between Republican and Democratic-leaning districts. Forty-five districts are more Democratic than Republican, and 46 districts are more Republican than Democratic.

That leaves eight districts that are more likely to be a toss-up between Democrats and Republicans.

In the state Senate, the districts drawn by Evers are also about evenly split between Republican and Democratic-leaning districts. Fourteen districts out of 33 are Democratic-leaning, while 15 districts are Republican-leaning.

The other four districts are competitive, where either party has a fair chance of winning them.

The entire Assembly will be up for reelection, but only half the Senate will be on the ballot — making it less likely Democrats will secure an immediate majority.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, has said he believes Republican lawmakers can still win majorities under Evers' maps.

"I think our members realize that we have been dealt a very difficult hand, and I have said from the very beginning that I think we could win under the maps that have been presented because we have better candidates (and) a better message," Vos told reporters before the Assembly approved the new boundaries.

"They are clearly drawn in a way to help Democrats, but I still think we can win because we have a better message," Vos said.

Editor's note: The Journal Sentinel based its analysis of the districts on precinct-level voting data calculated by Dave's Redistricting App based on national and local elections from 2016 to 2022. The Journal Sentinel defined districts that are 5% more Democratic than Republican as Democratic-leaning and vice versa. Districts where there is a less than 5% difference in the number of Republican and Democratic votes are considered competitive districts.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Democrats boost efforts on legislative races with new Wisconsin maps