Wisconsin Gov. Evers makes stop in Superior

Feb. 19—SUPERIOR — Wisconsin officially has new legislative maps for the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate races to be decided in the fall.

Gov. Tony Evers was in Superior Monday, Feb. 19, to announce that he signed Senate Bill 488 into law, creating 2023 Wisconsin Act 94.

Evers said signing the bill into law fulfills a promise he made to the people of Wisconsin about having fair legislation maps.

"I will always try to do the right thing for our state," Evers said. "Wisconsinites want fair maps, and Wisconsinites deserve fair maps."

The legislative maps enacted Monday were previously submitted by the governor to the Wisconsin Supreme Court for their consideration in ongoing redistricting litigation in Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission and were passed by the Republican-controlled Wisconsin State Legislature with bipartisan support, the governor said Monday. The bill was adopted with a 63-33 vote in the Assembly and an 18-14 vote in the Senate on Tuesday, Feb. 13. It outlines new Assembly districts in Wisconsin.

Under the new districts, Rep. Angie Sapik, R-Lake Nebagamon, and Rep. Chanz Green, R-Grand View, remain in their respective districts; however, Sen. Romaine Quinn, R-Cameron, will no longer serve the 25th District once his term ends following the 2026 election.

Evers said Quinn would continue to serve in the district until he's up for reelection in 2026.

"Wisconsin is not a red state or a blue state — we're a purple state, and I believe our maps should reflect that basic fact," Evers said. He said that's likely to remain true for a long time to come.

The governor's action Monday will end the pending redistricting case and provide voters and election officials certainty ahead of the 2024 election, said Sen. Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg.

"These maps are not perfect," LeMahieu said. "They are gerrymandered to benefit Democrats. But these maps have the most competitive districts of the remaining maps the court was considering."

Currently, the Republicans hold a 64-35 majority in the Assembly and a 22-11 supermajority in the Senate.

"Gov. Evers gets a huge win today," Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said during his speech on the floor Tuesday. "We see that a map that was drawn by him is going to be adopted by the Legislature per the request of the state Supreme Court."

Evers said he will continue to work to pass fair, independent and nonpartisan redistricting in Wisconsin to guarantee fair maps will always be the outcome of the redistricting process after every U.S. Census.

"Today is a victory not for me or any political party, but for our state and for the people of Wisconsin who've spent a decade demanding more and demanding better of us as elected officials," Evers said. "I believe, as I've often said, that the people should get to choose their elected officials, not the other way around. And under the maps I'm signing today, I am making good on that promise. It is a new day in Wisconsin, and today is a beautiful day for democracy."

Evers said there were a lot of things he promised when he first ran for office in 2018, but one of the most important was fair legislative maps.

"After 1,846 days folks, we have fair maps," Evers said Monday to a round of applause at the Thirsty Pagan.

"Whether we like it or not, Wisconsinites will hopefully have new maps in November, ones that I think Republicans will be very competitive on, albeit, the Legislature will be up for grabs," Vos said.

"The voters are the winners here," Evers said. "It's not the Democratic Party. It's not the Republican Party. It is the voters of the state of Wisconsin."