Swansenreport

Our Governor here in Wisconsin is, absentminded, bewildered and scatterbrained when it comes to his own redrawn state congressional maps.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is calling the state’s congressional map gerrymandered and demanding it be redrawn — a position that has drawn widespread mockery given one inconvenient fact: Evers drew the map himself.

Wisconsin’s current congressional district lines trace back to maps originally drawn by Republicans in 2011. When the GOP-controlled Legislature passed new maps in 2021, Evers vetoed them, which prompted the state Supreme Court to order new maps drawn under a “least changes” standard from the existing 2011 lines. The resulting congressional map was technically submitted by Evers’ office — but under the court’s instructions to preserve as much of the Republican-friendly structure as possible.

Evers signed an executive order this spring calling the Legislature into a special session to consider a constitutional amendment banning partisan gerrymandering. He framed the move as a response to the national redistricting arms race triggered by President Trump pressuring Republican-led states to draw more favorable congressional maps ahead of the midterms.

Wisconsin’s congressional map currently gives Republicans six of the state’s eight U.S. House seats, despite statewide partisan elections routinely being decided by less than a percentage point. Evers has argued the map fails a basic test of competitive fairness — the Princeton Gerrymandering Project grades it an “F” on partisan fairness.

Republicans were quick to point out the contradiction. As Wisconsin Watch noted, Evers drew the state’s legislative maps — which have received high marks for fairness — but the congressional map is a separate matter, drawn under the court’s “least changes” mandate rather than Evers’ own design preferences. That nuance, however, has done little to quiet critics who see the governor calling foul on a map that bears his signature.

The special session call comes as Evers enters the final months of his governorship — he has announced he will not seek re-election — and as this morning’s Supreme Court ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act makes any court-ordered remedy to the congressional map far less likely.

Sources: WPR | Wisconsin Watch | WisPolitics | NPR