Fate of the House Majority Could Be Decided by Four Members of Wisconsin’s Highest Court

Control of the U.S. House of Representatives could be in the hands of four members of Wisconsin’s supreme court as they prepare to hear a challenge to the state’s congressional maps. A liberal majority on the court forced a redrawing of state legislative district boundaries last year, leading to dramatic Democratic gains in the 2024 elections. In the coming days, the seven justices of Wisconsin’s highest court will receive their briefings from the state’s elections commission, which is being sued by two law firms seeking to strike down the congressional maps. Republicans currently hold six of the eight congressional seats in the state even though Wisconsin is evenly divided along partisan lines. One of the lawsuits looking for a map do-over was filed by the Elias Law Group, a firm founded by the Democrats’ most famous voting rights attorney, Marc Elias. Suing on behalf of state residents, Mr. Elias argues that the congressional maps violate Democrats’ rights to freedom of association, speech, and equal protection because of their lack of representation in the House delegation. “Wisconsin’s congressional map is antithetical to virtually every principle necessary to sustain a representative democracy,” the lawsuit from the Elias Law Group states. “It impermissibly disadvantages voters based on their political views and partisan affiliation, systematically disfavoring Democrats because they are Democrats.”The other lawsuit, brought by the Campaign Legal Center, argues the maps are unconstitutional because the state’s population is not evenly distributed among the eight districts. On Thursday, the elections commission will respond to the Campaign Legal Center’s challenge, and it will respond to the lawsuit from Mr. Elias by June 5. The elections commission is composed of six members — three Democrats and three Republicans — appointed by the governor and various leaders in the state legislature. These lawsuits seeking to force a redrawing of the state’s congressional maps comes just one year after Wisconsin was required by the same court to create new legislative districts for the state assembly and state senate. In 2023, Justice Janet Protasiewicz flipped a conservative seat on the court, giving liberals the majority for the first time in more than a decade. Months later, an outside legal group sued to strike down the legislative maps, which the new liberal majority later did. Despite Democrats winning either a majority or a near-majority of the votes for the legislature statewide in recent years, Republicans were still able to keep their supermajority due to the maps they had drawn in 2011. With the new maps instated for the 2024 elections, Democrats were able to pick up 10 seats in the 99-member assembly, and four seats in the 33-member senate. A recent victory for Democrats in the state gives them even more cause for hope. Judge Susan Crawford from Madison won her election to the supreme court last month, cementing liberal control for at least another three years. Justice-elect Crawford will take her seat on the high court in August, after which the lawsuits challenging the House maps will likely be heard by the justices. During this last election, an event with Judge Crawford was billed as an opportunity to support someone who would help draw new maps in order to help Democrats in the House. “Winning this race could also result in Democrats being able to win two additional U.S. House seats, half the seats needed to win control of the House in 2026,” an email message detailing the fundraiser with the judge — which was first reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — stated. Two Wisconsin Republican House members — Congressman Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil — would likely be the GOP members most at risk if the maps are redrawn. Mr. Van Orden won his race by less than three points last year, while Mr. Steil won re-election by just more than 11 points. “What the Democrat Party is doing is devious. It’s un-American,” Mr. Van Orden told ABC News in April. “Susan Crawford campaigned and fundraised off of flipping these seats.”

Fate of the House Majority Could Be Decided by Four Members of Wisconsin’s Highest Court

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