MADISON – This afternoon, as predicted, the Republican majority jammed through Senate Bill 621. Their legislative redistricting plan was opposed by over 150 citizens during the public hearing held last week. The only support came from the authors of the maps, Senator LeMehieu and Speaker Vos.
Wisconsin is famously purple – equally divided along partisan lines – and the State Legislature should represent that fifty-fifty split. But the maps passed today cement and build upon the maps drawn in secret in 2010/11, and continue to make Wisconsin one of the worst gerrymandered states in the nation. A map that hands Republicans 22 of the 33 Senate seats is not a map that is fair for our neighbors.
Senator LeMehieu and the Republican majority can say whatever they want: the maps passed today do not represent Wisconsin, are not what the people of this state have asked for, and should not be confused with the fair maps that our Democracy deserves.
