redistricting Archives - The Wisconsin Daily Star

Redistricting Won’t Hurt GOP Chances at Keeping the House, Experts Say

April 5, 2024 Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

Changes in congressional district boundary lines across several states do not appear to have damaged Republicans’ chances of maintaining a majority in the House of Representatives after 2024’s elections, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

North Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana and New York have experienced redistricting processes ahead of the 2024 election. While experts had previously forecast adverse changes from redistricting in these states that could have cost GOP incumbents their seats, the processes have resulted, on balance, in races where likely losses of some GOP seats could be offset by the gains in other states, experts told the DCNF.

Republicans and Democrats React to Wisconsin Supreme Court Redistricting Hearing

November 23, 2023November 22, 2023 The Center Square

There are no surprises among the reactions to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s questions about drawing new political maps in the state.

A number of lawmakers and advocacy groups weighed in after the high court Tuesday heard arguments to redraw the state’s legislative maps.

North Carolina May Upend Dems’ Dreams of Redistricting Their Way Back into Power

November 1, 2023 Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

North Carolina’s recently redrawn congressional map could upend Democrats’ use of redistricting to gain back the House majority ahead of 2024.

The Supreme Court declined to allow Alabama to use its Republican-drawn congressional map in late September, a federal judge is requiring Georgia to redraw its maps to better represent black voters and another case in Louisiana could result in an additional majority-black district. Democrats could lose up to four congressional seats in North Carolina after the GOP-controlled state legislature’s new map was approved last week, which is expected to end up in court, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Wisconsin State Senator: Left-Wing Activists Seek to Disenfranchise 1 Million-Plus Voters

September 20, 2023September 19, 2023 M.D. Kittle

While Democrats routinely accuse election integrity advocates of disenfranchising voters, leftist lawfare practitioners in the battleground Badger State could disenfranchise more than a million voters, according to state Senator Duey Stroebel.

The Saukville Republican calls it a “preposterous attack on democracy.”

Big Labor, Far-Left Rally Around Leftist Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice as Impeachment Talk Heats Up

September 14, 2023September 13, 2023 M.D. Kittle

The groups that helped buy liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz her seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court are on the attack as talk of impeaching the newly elected jurist heats up.

It’s the latest fight in a pitched battleground state battle over judicial bias, recusal and the “will of the people.”

Far-Left Candidate Janet Protasiewicz Wins Wisconsin Supreme Court Election, Liberals Gain Control

April 5, 2023April 4, 2023 M.D. Kittle

In a nationally watched state Supreme Court race dominated by abortion, bruising campaign attacks and money (lots of money), liberal Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz easily defeated conservative Daniel Kelly in Tuesday’s spring election, handing liberals control of Wisconsin’s high court for the first time in more than 15 years.

The election seemed over before the shouting. Less than an hour after Wisconsin’s polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday, the Associated Press called the contest. At that time, Protasiewicz led by double digits over Kelly, a former Supreme Court justice who lost his seat three years ago to far left jurist Jill Karofsky.

Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court Judge Faces Judicial Conduct Complaint

January 31, 2023January 30, 2023 M.D. Kittle

A Wisconsin resident has filed an ethics complaint with the Wisconsin Judicial Commission alleging Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice candidate Janet Protasiewicz violated the state Code of Judicial Conduct.

Democrats’ Dreams Turn to Dust as Adjudicated Redistricting Maps Set the Stage for Large Republican Gains in 2022

May 10, 2022May 9, 2022 Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

The Democratic Party’s hopes of gaining seats from redistricting have been crushed as court decisions and an increasingly aggressive GOP produced more Republican-friendly maps.

Democrats were initially optimistic that they could mitigate projected midterm losses in the House when it appeared they were poised to score wins in the redistricting process. However, the party’s hopes have been dashed after key losses in major states erased their redistricting advantage.

Louisiana’s Republican Legislature Overrides Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards Veto of Redistricting Plan

April 5, 2022April 4, 2022 Aaron Gulbransen

Louisiana’s Republican-controlled legislature voted to override Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’s veto of the congressional redistricting plan they passed in mid-February.

The new congressional maps will maintain the partisan makeup status quo of the the state’s delegation to the United States House of Representatives.

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu Unveils Redistricting Plan

March 24, 2022March 23, 2022 Aaron Gulbransen

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu has unveiled his redistricting plan for the state’s two congressional districts.

This comes after Sununu, a Republican, promised to veto the GOP-controlled legislature’s approved redistricting plan.

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu to Veto Republican Legislature Redistricting Plan

March 18, 2022March 17, 2022 Aaron Gulbransen

New Hampshire Governor Republican Chris Sununu has declared that he will veto the redistricting plan that was passed by the state Senate on Thursday.

The plan had previously passed the state House in January.

New Hampshire State Senate Set to Vote on House-Passed Redistricting Proposal

March 17, 2022March 16, 2022 Aaron Gulbransen

The New Hampshire State Senate is set to vote on the House-approved redistricting plan on Thursday.

New Hampshire is one of four remaining states that have yet to complete their congressional redistricting process. The others are Louisiana, Florida, and Missouri.

Democrats Currently Lead in National Redistricting Efforts with Four States Still Completing Process

March 10, 2022 Aaron Gulbransen

Democrats currently have the lead in redistricting efforts with four states still working on new maps.

Forty states, 46 if the states that have one congressional district are included, have finished the process of drawing new maps for U.S. House of Representatives districts. Only Florida, Missouri, Louisiana, and New Hampshire have yet to finish their redistricting process.

Wisconsin Republicans File Lawsuit to Block New Redistricting Maps

March 9, 2022March 8, 2022 Cooper Moran

Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature officially filed a lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming the maps proposed by Governor Evers and selected by the Wisconsin Supreme are unconstitutional.

According to the lawsuit, the boundaries selected by the state Supreme Court are a racial gerrymander.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Selects Redistricting Maps Proposed by Governor Evers

March 6, 2022March 5, 2022 Cooper Moran

The Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted a redistricting proposal offered by Governor Tony Evers, a move less favorable to Republicans.

The ruling was issued on a razor-thin margin, as swing Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote the opinion in the 4 to 3 decision. According to the decision, the justices selected the map by Evers because it proposed “the map with the least change.”

New York Officially Adopts New Congressional Lines that Could Axe Half the GOP Delegation

February 8, 2022February 7, 2022 Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul late Thursday signed a new congressional map into law that could eliminate half of the state’s Republicans in the House.

The signing, reported by the Associated Press, comes just days after the state legislature advanced the map on near party lines. The map gives Democrats an advantage in 22 of the state’s 26 seats.

Analysis: States Where Unelected Bureaucrats Took over Redistricting Experienced Difficulties

December 29, 2021December 28, 2021 Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

In Michigan, the state’s civil rights agency said proposed maps of legislative districts “do not measure up to the requirements of the law.” In Pennsylvania, Republican lawmakers complained about an “extreme partisan gerrymander.” And in Virginia, incumbents and potential challengers scrambled to work with proposed district maps.

In theory, new bureaucracies to draw up maps for congressional and legislative districts were supposed to save democracy from politics and block the practice of gerrymandering.

Pennsylvania House Committee Releases Public-Drawn Congressional Redistricting Map

December 11, 2021December 10, 2021 The Center Square

The Pennsylvania House State Government Committee has unveiled a preliminary map for new congressional districts, selected from one of 19 submitted by the public.

Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, chair of the State Government Committee, said a map submitted by Lehigh County resident Amanda Holt was selected because it was crafted without political influence, met constitutional standards and limited splits of townships and municipalities, among other factors.

Wisconsin Lawmakers Okay Republican-Drawn Maps, Veto Coming

November 14, 2021November 13, 2021 The Center Square

The next step for Wisconsin’s new political map is a veto from Gov. Tony Evers.

The State Assembly, as expected, on Thursday approved the Republican-drawn maps on two party line votes.

North Carolina Adopts New Congressional Map That Favors Republicans

November 7, 2021November 6, 2021 Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

The North Carolina General Assembly on Thursday finalized the state’s new U.S. House map that gives Republicans a distinct advantage over Democrats.

The map creates 10 safe Republican seats, three safe Democratic seats and one competitive seat, up from the current 8-5 map now. North Carolina is the only state where the legislature has full control over the redistricting process, meaning that the new lines can skirt what would be an all but certain veto from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and go into effect.

Pennsylvania Bill Would Clarify That Courts Can’t Redraw Electoral Maps, as State Supreme Court Did in 2018

October 27, 2021December 8, 2021 Bradley Vasoli

Legislation currently in the works in the Pennsylvania General Assembly would spell out two rules for redistricting in the Keystone State: Elections cannot legally take place in outdated districts and courts can’t create new districts themselves.

In Feb. 2018, the Democrat-controlled Pennsylvania Supreme Court not only struck down Pennsylvania’s congressional maps as unconstitutionally gerrymandered, it reimposed new maps created with no input from the legislature, something state law does not grant the court the right to do. The new maps strongly favored the Democrats’ electoral prospects.