In late March, a shocking ruling was delivered by the US Supreme Court regarding a long-shot appeal over Wisconsin’s redistricting maps. Legal “analysts” gave Republicans essentially no chance to overturn the state court’s decision to adopt Democrat-created maps spearheaded by Gov. Tony Evers.
Yet, a decision made via the shadow docket delivered new hope and also pushed the ball forward on stopping racial gerrymandering that has long been Democrat’s cheat code when it comes to redistricting.
To summarize, Democrat Gov. Tony Evers created another majority-black district for his redistricting submission. This elevates proportionality above any other factors. In adopting that map, the state’s high court failed to analyze whether the district could have been drawn in a neutral fashion without resorting to racial gerrymandering. This case will be returned to the high court for a reexamination and proper adjudication.
This case was remanded to Wisconsin Supreme Court. The final result has now been achieved. The GOP-appointed Justice that originally sided for the Democrats has now changed his vote and is joining the majority who have adopted the Republican-drawn map.
GOP maps show that 5 of the 6 majority Black Assembly Districts are now represented by GOP, which may lead to legal challenges.
A court finds “insufficient evidence” to justify drawing districts based on race.
— JR Ross (@jrrosswrites) April 15, 2022
The real victory is the fact that there was not enough evidence for Democrats to draw districts solely on the basis racial makeup, rather than considering other factors. The maps of Wisconsin are vital because every win matters, but it is clear that setting precedent will have a greater impact in the future in more cases.
Naturally, the response to the decision was to pronounce the end of voter representation because Democrats are nothing if they aren’t overly dramatic.
.@WisDOJ: decision “travesty for democracy in Wisconsin,” makes extreme gerrymander worse.
“This ruling entrenches control by politicians rather than voters, sapping what life remained from any claim that our legislature meaningfully represents the people.”
— JR Ross (@jrrosswrites) April 15, 2022
I won’t belabor the point, but needless to say that this is another big win for Republicans just weeks after Democrats were bragging that they had cleaned up regarding redistricting. Recent court decisions have largely canceled any gains made by Democrats through gerrymandering. In Wisconsin, it looks like the GOP will compete for a super-majority in the state’s Senate and easily take the House. Given how important state politics are, that can’t be overlooked.
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