NDRC Calls on Wisconsin Supreme Court to Strike Down Congressional Gerrymander

Washington, D.C. — Today, the Wisconsin Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments in two cases that could determine the fate of Wisconsin’s congressional map: Bothfeld v. Wis. Election Comm’n II and Wis. Business Leaders for Democracy v. Wis. Elections Comm’n. Both lawsuits challenge the “least change” congressional map the Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted in 2021 following a political impasse, which effectively maintained the egregious gerrymander Republicans enacted in 2011. A lower state court dismissed both cases, and the Supreme Court is now hearing the appeals. In the Bothfeld case, the plaintiffs argue the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s adoption of a “least change” map violates the separation of powers clause in the state constitution, and they ask the Court to reverse the lower court’s dismissal, strike it down, and order a process to enact a new map in time for the 2028 elections.

“Wisconsin’s congressional map remains egregiously gerrymandered because its supreme court, which had a conservative majority in 2021, overreached by making an inherently political decision to embrace a ‘least change’ approach that all but guaranteed a Scott Walker era gerrymander to live on for another decade,” said John Bisognano, President of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC). “In doing so, the 2021 state supreme court failed to exercise neutral and independent judgment, violating the separation of powers principles in the Wisconsin Constitution. Today’s Wisconsin Supreme Court must right these wrongs of the past and strike down the Badger State’s gerrymandered congressional map.”

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