Wisconsin Republicans in the Senate and Assembly passed legislative maps on Tuesday drawn up by Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) before the state’s Democratic-appointed majority Supreme Court could approve maps that would have been more detrimental to the GOP ahead of the election.
The Senate passed the maps in an 18-14 vote, with one Democrat voting along with most Republicans and five Republicans joining nine Democrats opposing it, per the Associated Press.
“Republicans were not stuck between a rock and hard place,” state Sen. Van Wanggaard said in a statement. “It was a matter of choosing to be stabbed, shot, poisoned or led to the guillotine. We chose to be stabbed, so we can live to fight another day.”
While Republicans did not make any alterations to the lines of the newly enacted maps, they did specify that they were not to be implemented until November. Democrats who opposed the map criticized the November stipulation. State Sen. Mark Spreitzer said during debate over the new maps that the bill’s language meant that special elections and recall elections held prior to November would be subjected to the current maps, which Democrats say favor Republicans.
“We don’t have clarity on that,” Spreitzer said regarding the bill’s wording. “Somebody is going to have to go to court on that.”
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who could be facing a recall in his district, would be subjected to a vote under the current maps and not the Evers-approved ones.
While some of the maps originally given to the state’s high court to decide on their implementation would have still given Republicans a narrow advantage, those maps would have shifted the legislature to split in half, the Wisconsin Public Radio reported. Republicans currently have a 22-10 majority in the Senate and a 64-35 majority in the Assembly. The state’s GOP believes it will come out on top regardless of the new Democratic-approved maps.
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“I have said from the very beginning that I think we can win under the maps presented because we have better candidates, a better message, and the ability to have hard-working people explain across the state why having Republicans in charge of the legislature is best for Wisconsin,” Vos said at a news conference ahead of the vote.
The new maps were approved after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled the Republican-drawn maps were unconstitutional. The court ordered it would decide on the maps if the legislature did not implement maps that Evers approved. The Wisconsin Elections Commission said the new maps must be implemented by March 15 so that candidates running in 2024 can meet deadlines to run.