Wisconsin\u2019s governor on Monday signed into law new maps that redraw voting lines for state legislative seats and undo a decade of gerrymandering that favored Republicans across the state.<\/p>\n
Gov. Tony Evers (D) said the overhaul was a step toward \u201ca fair, independent, and nonpartisan redistricting system.\u201d The new maps were approved by the Republican-controlled legislature with support from both parties.<\/p>\n
\u201cWisconsin is not a red state or a blue state \u2014 we\u2019re a purple state, and I believe our maps should reflect that basic fact,\u201d Evers said in a statement. \u201cThe people should get to choose their elected officials, not the other way around. And under the maps I\u2019m signing today, I am making good on that promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new maps are for state legislative elections, not congressional districts. Republicans hold six of the state\u2019s eight congressional seats.<\/p>\n
In December, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the state\u2019s legislative maps were unconstitutional and required that new maps be put into place ahead of this year\u2019s elections. The court, which is newly controlled by liberals after 15 years with a conservative majority, said it would overhaul the maps unless Evers and the legislature could agree on a new plan.<\/p>\n
Rep. Robin Vos (R), speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, accepted the result of the judicial and legislative process.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, Governor Evers signed the most Republican-leaning maps out of all the Democrat-gerrymandered maps being considered by the Wisconsin Supreme Court,\u201d Vos said. \u201cWe sent him those maps, not because they are fair, but because the people of Wisconsin deserve certainty in state government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vos added that \u201cRepublicans will prove that we can win on any maps because we have the better policy ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eric Holder, who was attorney general during President Barack Obama\u2019s term and now chairs a group that targets gerrymandering by Republican-led legislatures, cheered Wisconsin\u2019s new maps. He said they offer a blueprint for undoing gerrymandering in other states, such as North Carolina, Texas, Florida and Ohio.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new legislative maps mark the start of a new chapter for democracy in Wisconsin and a potential end to the GOP\u2019s illegitimate hold on political power,\u201d Holder said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Patrick Marley contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Wisconsin\u2019s governor on Monday signed into law new maps that redraw voting lines for state legislative seats and undo a decade of gerrymandering that favored Republicans across the state. Gov. Tony Evers (D) said the overhaul was a step toward \u201ca fair, independent, and nonpartisan redistricting system.\u201d The new maps were approved by the Republican-controlled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}