The Sconi

Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature are accusing Democrats, who once embraced the idea of an independent redistricting council, of opposing the measure now that they have a majority on the state Supreme Court. 

Many high profile Democrats were in favor of a bill in 2021 that would've instituted an independent council similar to Iowa's; however, this year's bill designed to achieve the same goal does not have support from Democrats.

On September 12, Republican State Reps. Loren Oldenburg, Todd Novak, Travis Tranel, Jon Plumer, Jeffrey Mursau, and Joel Kitchens introduced AB415, which would institute a nonpartisan redistricting council to redraw legislative maps.

In 2021, twelve Democratic state senators introduced SB389, including Senators Mark Spreitzer and Kelda Roys. Like AB415, SB389 would have established a nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau to draw redistricting plans. Also among the bill's cosponsors were Republican State Reps. Kitchens, Novak, and Tranel, who, with three other Republicans, introduced AB415 earlier this week.

Democratic State Sen. Mark Spreitzer, a sponsor of the 2021 bill, recently criticized Republicans in the state assembly for favoring a nonpartisan redistricting bill, suggesting that the GOP is worried about a liberal State Supreme Court majority. But in 2018, Spreitzer emphasized his longtime support for a nonpartisan redistricting model similar to that of Iowa.

Progressive Democratic State Sen. — and former gubernatorial candidate — Kelda Roys has apparently reversed course as well. After previously arguing in favor of nonpartisan redistricting reform, Roys recently blasted Republicans for supporting the Iowa model.

According to a report from the MacIver Institute, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers had a similar change of heart. In March 2019, Evers expressed support for the so-called "Iowa Model" and made it part of his 2020-21 state budget. Shortly after GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos' announcement that Assembly Republicans back nonpartisan redistricting reform in Wisconsin, however, Evers blasted their plan as "bogus."

One of Evers key criticisms of the new bill is his assertion that Speaker Vos would fire or remove non-partisan map drawers that he disagreed with. However, in a tweet, Speaker Vos pledged to offer an amendment that would address this concern and bar the Speaker from firing map drawers on this basis.