The Dem voters involved in one lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s congressional map are urging a Dane County judge to get the case moving.
Meanwhile, the attorney representing the state’s GOP House members wants Judge Julie Genovese to take no action while the state Supreme Court considers their request to dismiss the case.
The two sides laid out their positions in competing filings as the state Supreme Court has shown no public signs it’s moving on the suit — one of two seeking the appointment of a panel of three circuit court judges to hear challenges to the congressional map. Both suits want new lines drawn ahead of the 2026 election.
The GOP members of Congress have argued it would be unconstitutional for a three-judge panel to invalidate a map that the state Supreme Court had adopted in 2022. In yesterday’s letter, GOP attorney Misha Tseytlin asked Genovese to take no action on the Dems’ motion for summary judgment or setting a briefing schedule until the justices act on the Republicans’ request.
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The attorney for the Dem voters, meanwhile, argued to Genovese that “time is of the essence” as they challenge the current map — which has a 6-2 GOP majority — as a partisan gerrymander. The request for a briefing schedule argues if the map is unconstitutional, then it must be barred from use far enough in advance of the August primaries “to ensure time for a new map that comports with the Wisconsin Constitution to be selected.”
The Dems want motions to intervene in the case due by Sept. 22, any motions in opposition to their motion for judgment on the pleadings due by Oct. 6 and reply briefs in by Oct. 21.
The legal team representing the Dem voters includes the firm of Dem attorney Marc Elias, who’s been involved in numerous election cases. His firm previously asked the state Supreme Court to overturn the current map as a partisan gerrymander, but the justices declined to hear the suit.
The suit asks that a panel of three circuit court judges be appointed to hear the case under a 2011 law that Republicans approved to handle challenges to legislative or congressional districts. That process hasn’t been used before.
Separately, another lawsuit filed by Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy challenges the map as a “textbook example of an anti-competitive gerrymander” because districts aren’t competitive. It also has asked for the appointment of a three-judge panel to hear that suit.
