Madison, Wis. – In the past 72 hours, Assembly Republicans wrote, introduced, and passed a redistricting bill, an abrupt about-face from their decade-long fight against nonpartisan redistricting. Representative Deb Andraca (D-Whitefish Bay) voted no and issued the following statement:
“Creating a nonpartisan redistricting process that works for Wisconsin requires trust between both parties, transparency, and significant public input. So far, we are off to a terrible start.
“Wisconsin has been living with one of the nation’s worst gerrymanders for over a decade. As a result, trust in government is at an all-time low. The bill passed by the Assembly last night, forced through without any public input, is an example of the kind of anti-democratic behavior that has eroded public confidence in our elected officials.
“Assembly Bill 415 is not the Iowa model, it’s the Republicans’ latest attempt to cling to their gerrymander in order to distract from their baseless attempt to impeach a fairly-elected Supreme Court justice. I can only think of one reason for Republicans’ rush to pass Assembly Bill 415, and it’s not because of a newly-discovered love of independent redistricting. We are not facing a census to prompt the need for new maps – Republicans are facing a lawsuit threatening their gerrymandered political advantage.
“Actions speak louder than words. If Republicans are genuine in their sudden willingness to work together across party lines, draw fair maps, and usher in a new era of bipartisan cooperation, they are going to have to do a lot better than this.”
