Wisconsin's Plan for a Judicial Coup

Wall Street Journal

18-05-2025

Democrats went all-in to retain control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court this year and here comes the payoff. Progressive law firms recently filed two suits asking the Justices to overturn the state's Congressional maps. If they succeed, Democrats will get a chance at redrawing districts to favor their candidates.
According to the lawsuit brought by the Elias Law Group, the current map 'impermissibly disadvantages voters based on their political views and partisan affiliation, systematically disfavoring Democrats because they are Democrats.' The Wisconsin Congressional delegation is currently balanced 6-2, a tilt the left claims is outrageous for a swing state and therefore evidence of a Republican gerrymander.
The lawsuit says the current maps are guilty of 'packing the substantial share of Wisconsin's Democrats into just two congressional districts.' But Wisconsin's Democratic voters are concentrated in two areas in real life: progressive Madison and Milwaukee. That makes it difficult for the maps to be otherwise without drawing an Illinois-style map that looks like a game of Chutes and Ladders.
Democrats want to distribute urban liberal voters through other districts to trump Republican-leaning rural and exurban voters. That scheme is at odds with Wisconsin's traditional redistricting requirements to maintain counties, municipalities and ward lines. The Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted the current Congressional districts (a map submitted by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers) in 2022 as consistent with the state constitution on these legal grounds. The court said at the time that the map 'complies with the federal Constitution and all other applicable laws.'
The second lawsuit, brought by the Campaign Legal Center, nonetheless argues that the current maps violate the Wisconsin Constitution's Equal Protection Guarantee. The malapportionment they allege is a matter of one or two voters. According to the brief, it's possible to create a Congressional map 'with six districts containing 736,715 people and two districts containing 736,714 people.' Drum roll. The allegedly unconstitutional map contains districts that 'have either 736,714 people, 736,715 people, or 736,716 people.'
The arguments are so thin because the Democratic plaintiffs figure the result is in the bag. Wisconsin's newest Supreme Court Justice, Susan Crawford, joined a donor call during her campaign this year that touted her election as a 'chance to put two more House seats in play for 2026.'
Justice Janet Protasiewicz called state Assembly and Senate election maps 'rigged' during her election campaign, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned the state's legislative maps not long after her victory created a 4-3 progressive court majority. Judicial elections in Wisconsin these days count for more than those for Governor or the Legislature.