A key fight over democracy is currently taking place in Wisconsin. On April 4, voters in the state will choose a new judge for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. That judge will determine the seven-person court’s majority, a majority that will either uphold or possibly strike down the state’s gerrymandered voting maps that are so heavily weighted toward Republicans as to make it virtually impossible for Democrats to win control of the legislature.
Political scientists judge Wisconsin to be the most gerrymandered state in the country. The state is divided pretty evenly between Democrats and Republicans, although the Democrats have won 13 of the past 16 statewide elections. But despite the state’s relatively even political split, the current district maps are so heavily tilted for Republicans that Democrats have to win the statewide vote by 12 points just to get a majority in the assembly: 50 of the 99 seats. Republicans, though, can win a majority with just 44% of the vote.
The process of changing Wisconsin into a stronghold of Republican power began in the 2010 elections, when Republicans launched Operation REDMAP to take over state legislatures before the redistricting process based on the 2010 census began. That year, the billionaire brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch pumped money into Wisconsin. Along with a strong talk radio media ecosystem, they helped to elect Governor Scott Walker to curb the power of public sector unions, which they blamed for what they considered excessive state spending.
The election of Governor Walker and a Republican legislature began the process of taking control of the state. Using granular voting data and sophisticated mapping software, the Republicans gerrymandered the state so severely that they retained control of the assembly going forward even though Democrats won significantly more votes.
As Ari Berman explained in Mother Jones, Republicans used that power to take away the bargaining rights of public sector unions in order to defund and demoralize one of the Democratic Party’s core constituencies. Berman quotes right-wing strategist Grover Norquist, who wrote that the Wisconsin policies were a national model. “If Act 10 is enacted in a dozen more states, the modern Democratic Party will cease to be a competitive power in American politics…. It’s that big a deal.” The assembly also passed at least 33 new laws during the Walker years to change election procedures and make it harder to vote.
When Democrat Tony Evers won election as governor in 2018, Democrats won all four statewide races. They also won 53% of the votes for state assembly—203,000 more votes than the Republicans did—but because of gerrymandering, the Democrats got just 36% of the seats in the legislature. The Republicans there immediately held a lame duck session and stripped powers from Evers and Democratic attorney general Josh Kaul. Then they passed new laws to restrict voting rights. The legislature went on to block Evers’s appointees and block his legislative priorities, like healthcare, schools, and roads.
Polls showed that voters opposed the lame duck session by a margin of almost 2 to 1, and by 2020, 82% of Wisconsin voters had passed referenda calling for fair district maps.
But when it came time to redistrict after the 2020 census, the Republican-dominated legislature carved up the state into an even more pro-Republican map than it had put into place before. Ultimately, the new maps gave Republicans 63 out of 99 seats in the assembly and 22 out of 23 in the state senate. They came within two assembly seats of having a supermajority that would enable them to override any vetoes by the governor, essentially nullifying him, although Evers had been reelected by 53.5% of the vote (a large margin for Wisconsin).
The column continues. I recommend clicking through and reading the rest.
By its nature, WI is a purple state. This won't turn it blue, and it shouldn't. WI voters need to decide that. But if it gets rid of Scott Walker's red thumbprints, that gives the blue team a fighting chance.
The biggest thing is redistricting/gerrymandering. The vote in WI actually slightly favors Democrats but Republicans have large legislative majorities, same goes for federal House districts. The SC is now likely to find those districts unconstitutional and order them redrawn, providing more fairness in representation.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
Grifman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 05, 2023 6:42 am
The biggest thing is redistricting/gerrymandering. The vote in WI actually slightly favors Democrats but Republicans have large legislative majorities, same goes for federal House districts. The SC is now likely to find those districts unconstitutional and order them redrawn, providing more fairness in representation.
The other huge thing is that this essentially eliminates the risk that the WI Supreme Court issues crazy MAGA voter suppression rulings, or that they sign on for post-election MAGA shenanigans, in 2024.
Today, Wisconsin voters elected Janet Protasiewicz to the Wisconsin Supreme Court by a ten-point margin. Her opponent, Dan Kelly, supported the heavily gerrymandered district maps in the state and was supported by antiabortion groups. Protasiewicz has called those maps, which make it virtually impossible for Democrats to win control of the assembly, “rigged” and supports abortion rights. Her election switches the political orientation of the court for the first time in 15 years.
This court will likely take up cases relating to the state’s abortion ban, its extreme gerrymandering, and its voting rules for the 2024 presidential election. Far-right activist Ali Alexander, who was deeply involved in the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, tweeted: “We just lost the Wisconsin Supreme Court. I do not see a path to 270 in 2024.”
Wisconsin Democratic chair Ben Wikler tweeted: “This isn’t a prediction. It isn’t a hint. It’s just a note. And my note is, this election was a release valve for twelve years of Democratic rage in Wisconsin about Republicans rigging our state and smashing our democracy—and then using that power to rip away our rights.”
Across the state, Republican numbers slumped. Political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen noted: “Republicans are losing across the country, even in historically red areas—Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin. The abortion bans, climate denial, gun idolatry, anti-democratic behavior and extremism has lost them entire generations of Americans.”
I think Americans as a whole have done a pretty good job rejecting the GOP extremism in the last couple of elections. The problem is those elections are few and far between. We've got one side using every dirty trick imaginable to gain and retain power, while the other side is continuing to follow the traditional democratic process. I'm pessimistic that the side that plays fair can win over the long run.
Case in point, here in NC we recently had a Democratic congresswoman who has consistently voted pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ+ rights, etc. suddenly flip parties to give the GOP a supermajority. There's no way that happens overnight. You can't fight that kind of corruption at the ballot box. Sure, she may get the boot next election, but how much damage will be done in the meantime with the GOP's sudden ability to override vetoes?
I honestly don't know how this genie ever gets put back into the bottle. The GOP has shown absolutely no willingness to moderate in response to voter dissastisfaction. Instead they just double down again and again.
Grifman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 05, 2023 6:42 am
The biggest thing is redistricting/gerrymandering. The vote in WI actually slightly favors Democrats but Republicans have large legislative majorities, same goes for federal House districts. The SC is now likely to find those districts unconstitutional and order them redrawn, providing more fairness in representation.
If the past is any indication, the Wisconsin GOP legislature will do its best to gut the influence of any State Supreme Court rulings...
Black Lives definitely Matter Lorini!
Also: There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
YellowKing wrote: ↑Wed Apr 05, 2023 1:14 pm
I think Americans as a whole have done a pretty good job rejecting the GOP extremism in the last couple of elections. The problem is those elections are few and far between. We've got one side using every dirty trick imaginable to gain and retain power, while the other side is continuing to follow the traditional democratic process. I'm pessimistic that the side that plays fair can win over the long run.
Case in point, here in NC we recently had a Democratic congresswoman who has consistently voted pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ+ rights, etc. suddenly flip parties to give the GOP a supermajority. There's no way that happens overnight. You can't fight that kind of corruption at the ballot box. Sure, she may get the boot next election, but how much damage will be done in the meantime with the GOP's sudden ability to override vetoes?
I honestly don't know how this genie ever gets put back into the bottle. The GOP has shown absolutely no willingness to moderate in response to voter dissastisfaction. Instead they just double down again and again.
That whole Cotham thing is ... hinky as all hell. Putting aside the obvious elephant that it is incredibly undemocratic, it is the type of action that calls her trustworthiness as a public servant into question. The people in her district deserve answers that go well beyond her bizarre statement that the Democratic party is too extreme. She just ran on that platform and it hasn't meaningfully changed.
And this was the conservative activists’ stated goal since 1995. It’s not new, but a core value.
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein "I don't stand by anything." - Trump “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867 “It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
Grifman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 05, 2023 6:42 am
The biggest thing is redistricting/gerrymandering. The vote in WI actually slightly favors Democrats but Republicans have large legislative majorities, same goes for federal House districts. The SC is now likely to find those districts unconstitutional and order them redrawn, providing more fairness in representation.
If the past is any indication, the Wisconsin GOP legislature will do its best to gut the influence of any State Supreme Court rulings...
Republican state Rep. Dan Knodl narrowly defeated Democratic attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin in a special election for a state Senate seat in the Milwaukee suburbs that restored Republicans to a powerful supermajority in one chamber of the state Legislature.
Tho on the good news side, no supermajority currently in the assembly.
Last edited by Pyperkub on Wed Apr 05, 2023 4:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Black Lives definitely Matter Lorini!
Also: There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
YellowKing wrote: ↑Wed Apr 05, 2023 1:14 pm
I think Americans as a whole have done a pretty good job rejecting the GOP extremism in the last couple of elections. The problem is those elections are few and far between. We've got one side using every dirty trick imaginable to gain and retain power, while the other side is continuing to follow the traditional democratic process. I'm pessimistic that the side that plays fair can win over the long run.
Case in point, here in NC we recently had a Democratic congresswoman who has consistently voted pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ+ rights, etc. suddenly flip parties to give the GOP a supermajority. There's no way that happens overnight. You can't fight that kind of corruption at the ballot box. Sure, she may get the boot next election, but how much damage will be done in the meantime with the GOP's sudden ability to override vetoes?
I honestly don't know how this genie ever gets put back into the bottle. The GOP has shown absolutely no willingness to moderate in response to voter dissastisfaction. Instead they just double down again and again.
That whole Cotham thing is ... hinky as all hell. Putting aside the obvious elephant that it is incredibly undemocratic, it is the type of action that calls her trustworthiness as a public servant into question. The people in her district deserve answers that go well beyond her bizarre statement that the Democratic party is too extreme. She just ran on that platform and it hasn't meaningfully changed.
I really hope someone is looking into her bank accounts, sudden LLCs created, etc. Unfortunately state and local news has been completely gutted, so I'm not as confident that this is happening as I should.
