Wisconsin taxpayers on the hook for up to $2 million in legal fees to defend GOP-drawn election maps

MADISON – Taxpayers are on track to cover up to $2 million for outside attorneys hired by GOP legislative leaders to defend election maps approved in 2021 that favor Republicans, state records show.

The total cost could grow higher under provisions in three contracts Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu signed earlier this month.

Costs are limited to $1.8 million over the next year under contracts with law firms Lehotsky Keller Cohn, and Consovoy McCarthy and Lawfair LLC. Another contract with Bell Giftos St. John LLC sets no limit and charges $450 per hour for attorneys’ time and $150 per hour for paralegals’ work.

The contracts require the Legislature to pay for out-of-pocket costs that could come in addition to the fees for services.

A spokeswoman for Vos did not respond to a request for comment. Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard said "The GOP will pay any price to retain their unfettered power and usurp the will of the majority."

"Using a blank check written by Wisconsin taxpayers, Legislative Republicans have entered into contracts with three law firms to defend their gerrymandered maps," she said. "Again we see that they only care about their own special interests rather than the interests of Wisconsinites."

States must draw new election maps once a decade after each census to make sure legislative districts have equal populations. Where the lines go can confer advantages on one political party.

In 2011, Republicans controlled all of Wisconsin's government and put in place maps that have helped them hold large majorities in the Senate and Assembly. GOP lawmakers hired experts and a legal team to make sure the maps were as beneficial to Republicans as possible, court documents and testimony show.

The legal fight over the maps began even before Republicans approved them.

In 2021, with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in office, he and Republicans who control the Legislature couldn't agree on new maps, 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.

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 2021 analysis by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Now, two lawsuits have been filed by liberals at the Wisconsin Supreme Court aimed at rewriting Wisconsin's legislative maps to favor Republicans less. The challenges were filed days after the state's highest court flipped to liberal control for the first time in years.

The GOP leaders’ contracts cover legal proceedings in both lawsuits.

Evers earlier this month said it's possible he will seek to intervene in the lawsuits, which would increase the legal tab for taxpayers.

"It's always possible that we might end up being part of that lawsuit. But at the end of the day, this is a great start. And I'm looking forward to a great result," Evers told reporters in New Glarus on Aug. 4. "If I'm involved it'll happen later on, not immediately."

Jessie Opoien of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

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

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Taxpayers could pay $2 million in legal fees to defend GOP-drawn maps