Governor Evers Gave Wisconsin Unfair Maps
Wisconsin’s new electoral maps, signed by Governor Evers back in February, have thrust us into the national spotlight. From the New York Times, to The Guardian, to Pro-Publica, the headlines give the impression that for the first time in a decade, Wisconsin can look forward to elections where the results represent the will of the people. And while these new maps are undeniably a massive improvement from the previous overtly gerrymandered, Republican-drawn maps, it is maybe not quite time to be popping champagne. Diving deeper into the whole process, and examining all the options Governor Evers had at the time, shows that not only did he choose to implement the least representative maps, but he prioritized the appearance of ‘bipartisanism’ over democracy and even the support of his own party. Evers had the opportunity to implement the most representative electoral maps Wisconsin has ever had and consciously decided not to.
For those that have not been following this battle closely, the years-long struggle for fair and representative maps peaked when the Wisconsin Supreme Court declared Wisconsin’s current electoral maps unconstitutional and ordered that new maps either be approved by the legislature or the Court would implement its own maps. In preparation, the Court began to receive proposals from the parties involved in the case and received six map submissions, four from Democratic-aligned groups (including one from Governor Evers) and two from Republican-aligned groups. As the Court was reviewing these submissions, the Republican-controlled legislature sprang into action, approving a version of Evers’ maps that were slightly tweaked to protect Republican incumbents. Evers promptly vetoed them. After this initial defeat, the Legislature then passed the exact same maps the Governor himself had proposed, which of course he approved and signed into law, taking the decision away from the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
What is striking though, is that only two Democrats, one in the House and one in the Senate voted for the Governor’s maps. Only five Republicans voted against the maps, meaning they were overwhelmingly approved by Republicans. What is the reason behind Republicans' sudden rush to approve Evers’ maps (first with and then without their own amendments)?
The reason is clear: despite being more representative than the current maps, Evers’ maps still favor Republicans. In analyzing the new approved maps as compared to the other Democratic-aligned proposed maps, researchers at Marquette and Urban Milwaukee found that Evers’ maps “have the most favorable Republican score when averaged across both houses” and “that the governor’s plan still gives them [Republicans] a partisan edge that will make it easier for them then for Democrats to control the Assembly and Senate.” In fact, Evers’ proposal “gives Democrats only a 17% chance of winning half of all Assembly seats with 50% of [the] state vote”, meaning these maps still will not result in electoral outcomes that represent the actual votes cast. A representative democracy means that if you win 50% of the vote, you should win 50% of the seats. Instead, under Evers’ maps, what should be a guaranteed outcome is only a faint possibility.
Even Republicans recognize that amongst all the proposed maps that had a chance of being implemented, Evers’ proposal is the best for them. The Majority Caucus Chair in the Senate released a statement saying, “Republicans were not stuck between a rock and hard place. It was a matter of choosing to be stabbed, shot, poisoned or led to the guillotine. We chose to be stabbed, so we can live to fight another day.” Governor Evers’ had the opportunity to completely rid Wisconsin of gerrymandering and instead chose to only stab it, still leaving unrepresentative democracy alive and well. He could have allowed the Supreme Court to implement what was the most statistically representative map. Or he could have modified his own map to be more representative. Aside from complaining, there was nothing Republicans could do at that moment to prevent representative maps from being implemented. Instead, Evers squandered this opportunity and allowed Republicans to continue to retain their illegitimate power.
Almost all Wisconsin Democrats recognized this, which is why only two voted for the maps. They also understood that Republicans are bound to challenge whatever maps are approved in court at the Federal level, regardless of how representative they are. As Democratic Representative Mark Pocan put it “If we get these new maps, the governor’s maps, signed by the Republicans, it’s more than likely that there’ll be a challenge in the 7th Circuit Court… We’re fearful the Republicans are finally trying to come around to do what they should have done in the first place, but they’re doing it with — I guess the technical term would be ‘with shit-eating grins on their faces… We can assume that this is not done because of the idea of good government.”
Evers proposed and signed maps that are still gerrymandered (though much less so than the current maps) in Republicans’ favor. Additionally, as Representative Pocan notes, in doing so, Evers made it more likely that the maps can later be challenged and overturned in Federal Court further down the line. While at the time of publication, Republicans and their allies have not yet filed a lawsuit to try and overturn the new maps, Republicans are not exactly known for willingly letting go of power and governing in good faith. These are the same Republicans that rushed through as much legislation as possible to strip Evers of power the moment he won the governorship and tore apart his budget when they lost the Supreme Court. Yes, now Evers can tout his maps as ‘bipartisan’ –though how bipartisan can they really be when only two Democrats voted for them?–but he sacrificed true democracy along the way.
In his press release upon signing these new maps Evers stated that “To me, the decision to enact these maps boils down to this: I made a promise to the people of Wisconsin that I would always try to do the right thing.” But how is the right thing creating electoral maps that still skew in Republicans’ favor? Isn’t the right thing giving Wisconsinites the most fully representative electoral maps possible? Wisconsinites deserve better and Governor Evers could have done better. Perhaps Evers prefers the image of “bipartisanism” above all else. And making sure Republicans still have some power is a great way to ensure he can continue to be “bipartisan” rather than actually governing and doing what is best for the people of Wisconsin. While it is impossible to know exactly why Evers made this decision, others have also suggested that an overvaluing of “bipartisanism” might be the reason. Regardless of the reasoning, the fact is Evers’ chose Republican approval rather than embrace true democracy. We need to elect folks who will always, always, choose to embrace democracy.
