(WTAQ-WLUK) — Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly are pushing forward a new redistricting plan ahead of the 2024 election. The proposal they say would be nonpartisan, but many state Democrats label it as a last-ditch effort to maintain a level of control.
Democrats in Wisconsin have been looking for redistricting changes for years. Yet in a surprise announcement Tuesday, it was the other party who proposed a new plan.
“The maps that we have a fair, the process we have is clearly one where we have the best people winning in districts,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said. “I certainly prefer the system that we have right now but I also think that most Wisconsinites don’t want us to waste millions and millions of dollars and lots of time.”
Vos seemingly reversed his longstanding position on redistricting. He credits two Democrat-backed lawsuits the state Supreme Court is considering. The Republican-drawn maps were first enacted in 2011.
“Voters choosing their elected officials as opposed to elected officials choosing who their voters are,” Wisconsin Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard, D-Madison, said. “This is another example of Speaker Vos feeling the power sliding through his hands and reacting to the will of the people in their election of (Supreme Court Justice Janet) Protasiewicz.”
The announcement has been met with criticism from Democratic legislators like Agard. She says she’s skeptical of the proposal’s quick timeline.
“In the best interest of the people of the communities you’ll get a group of people with diverse opinions together and have thoughtful and gritty conversations and that did not happen with Speaker Vos,” Agard said.
The Assembly vote is scheduled for Thursday. Vos says the reason it was brought on so suddenly is because of the 2024 elections.
“My hope would be that we do it as expeditiously as we can,” Vos said. “I have recruited candidates for 20 years. It takes a while to talk to good people, say here’s the district you’d run in, perhaps give up your career, or it’s a second job.”
And Republicans are hoping the vote is bipartisan, claiming this plan is a gold standard of how to address redistricting concerns.
“Republicans, the League of Women Voters and Gov. (Tony) Evers pushed for this bill since our last maps were created,” State Rep. Ron Tusler, R-Harrison, said. “This is a bipartisan win for Wisconsin that will solve a 170-year problem that happens once a decade.”
In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, Tusler explained the system, which is modeled after Iowa’s.
State Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, agrees a change should happen, but this is not the solution.
“We are one of the third-worst democracies in terms of the legislature and outcomes actually reflecting the will of the people,” Larson said. “For Dr. Frankenstein, the one who created this monster, to somehow say ‘oh no trust what he’s gonna create.’ I think it’s very tough for people to do that.”
If approved by the Assembly, the proposal would have to go through the Republican-controlled Senate, and then on to Democratic Gov. Evers.
Evers himself issued a response to the plan on social media. It reads in part, “The people should get to choose their elected officials, not the other way around. Wisconsinites deserve a redistricting process that’s free of partisanship and interference from politicians, and it’s never been clearer that today’s Legislature cannot be trusted with that important responsibility.”
Protasiewicz’s win in April flipped majority control of the court from conservative to liberal for the first time in 15 years. State Republicans have discussed impeaching her if she doesn’t recuse herself from cases centered around redistricting.
