Dem
51
GOP
49
There is no longer any question, with a Democratic-controlled state Supreme Court, that Wisconsin's extremely gerrymandered district maps have to go. First up are the maps for the state's legislative districts. In an effort to be bipartisan, and to try to minimize nastiness, Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) sent the Republican-dominated legislature maps drawn by his office. The maps are much more friendly to the Democrats than the ones currently in effect, but are not as friendly to the Democrats as they could be. Evers said that if the legislature passed the maps without alteration, he would sign them.
The Republicans in the legislature are not excited by the possibility of the courts imposing maps that are even more friendly to the Democrats. On the other hand, they also do not want to give up without a fight. So, they followed the letter of the Governor's instructions, in that they did not change the maps themselves before voting to adopt them. However, they DID change the language of the enabling legislation, such that the new maps would not kick in until November of this year, leaving the old maps in place for special or recall elections taking place before then.
Evers has not yet signaled whether he will accept this change. We are not close followers of Wisconsin politics, but we would be rather surprised if he did. He's holding all the cards here, and it's not like he will even have to wait very long for the new maps to be implemented.
In any case, the ball is currently in the Governor's court. (Z)