“Wisconsin is not a red state or a blue state — we’re a purple state, and I believe our maps should reflect that basic fact,” Evers said in a statement. “The people should get to choose their elected officials, not the other way around. And under the maps I’m signing today, I am making good on that promise.”
The new maps are for the state legislative elections, not the state’s congressional maps. Republicans hold six of the state’s eight congressional seats.
In December, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the state’s legislative maps were unconstitutional and required that new maps be put into place ahead of this year’s elections. The court, which is newly controlled by liberals after 15 years of conservative majority, said it would overhaul the maps unless Evers and the legislature could agree on a new plan.
The Wisconsin Assembly speaker, Robin Vos (R), accepted the result accepted the result of the judicial and legislative process.
“Today, Governor Evers signed the most Republican-leaning maps out of all the Democrat-gerrymandered maps being considered by the Wisconsin Supreme Court,” Vos said. “We sent him those maps, not because they are fair, but because the people of Wisconsin deserve certainty in state government.”
Vos added that “Republicans will prove that we can win on any maps because we have the better policy ideas.”
Eric Holder, who was attorney general under President Barack Obama and now chairs a group that targets gerrymandering by Republican-led legislatures, cheered Wisconsin’s new maps. He said they offer a blueprint for undoing gerrymandering in other states, such as North Carolina, Texas, Florida and Ohio.
“The new legislative maps mark the start of a new chapter for democracy in Wisconsin and a potential end to the GOP’s illegitimate hold on political power,” Holder said in a statement.
Patrick Marley contributed to this report.
