Wisconsin’s GOP members of Congress have asked state justices to give them the chance to propose a new map after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected their challenge.
Wednesday’s filing came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, denied House Republicans’ request to overturn Gov. Tony Evers’ map, which the state justices approved earlier this month.
In that 4-3 ruling, the state Supreme Court picked Evers’ map for Wisconsin’s congressional boundaries, finding it most closely followed the core retention principle the justices used to evaluate the proposals that had been submitted. Yesterday’s motion to reconsider seeks the chance to submit a new map that Republicans argue would follow the core retention principle more closely than Evers’ proposal did.
The court in November told the parties to submit maps that followed a “least change” approach to the lines Republicans drew in 2011. It then selected Evers’ map because it moved fewer people from their current districts than the GOP plan.
Prior to this month’s ruling selecting Evers’ map, the court rejected an attempt by the House Republicans to amend the map that had already been submitted.
In yesterday’s filing, House Republicans argued it would take just an hour to draw a new map that better followed the core retention principle than Evers’ proposal.
Evers’ congressional map includes two solidly Dems seats and four districts where Republicans will be heavily favored. There are two swing seats: the 1st CD in southeastern Wisconsin and the 3rd in western Wisconsin.
Using numbers from Dave’s Redistricting, a redistricting tool, the 1st has an average performance at the top of the ticket of 49.2 percent Republican and 48.1 percent Dem in recent elections. The seat is now represented by Republican Bryan Steil, of Janesville.
The 3rd CD, which Dem Ron Kind is leaving after almost 26 years in office, has an average performance of 48.7 percent Dem and 48.3 percent Republican.
Republicans produced a map that would give them a 6-2 advantage with the 3rd CD having a slight GOP lean.
Read the motion here.
