Even though a federal court has struck down Wisconsin’s legislative district maps, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) does not see a need for lawmakers to consider changes in the process for how those maps are drawn.
A federal panel in November ruled 2-1 that the state’s maps drawn in 2011 were unconstitutional because the lines were created in a way that minimizes votes cast by Democrats. Those challenging the maps claimed that “efficiency gap” resulted in situations where Democrats were casting more votes, but Republicans made larger gains the Assembly and Senate since the maps took effect.
In an interview with WRN, Vos argued those gains are due to Republicans putting up better candidates. “If you look at the last election results as a prime example, we now have 18 districts that are 52 percent or less Republican. Almost a dozen of those are in districts that are less than 50 percent Republican,” Vos said.
Republicans gained seats in the Assembly and Senate and November, and will return next year with their largest majorities in over 50 years.
The state and those challenging the maps are due to submit plans for fixing the maps today, although the state is expected to appeal the ruling and ask the court to block any changes from being made during that process. “If we were required to draw new districts, you’d talk about throwing the entire process into disarray because the Supreme Court is ultimately going to decide this,” Vos said.
