Conservatives intervene in Wisconsin’s mid-decade redistricting push as House majority hangs in the balance
In a significant legal development, the conservative law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) has filed motions to intervene in two lawsuits aimed at overturning Wisconsin’s congressional maps. This move comes in response to a recent order from the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which has a liberal majority, directing two three-judge panels to examine claims that the state’s current congressional map unfairly favors Republicans. Advocates for changing the map argue that it constitutes an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander, a claim that has sparked intense debate as redistricting battles heat up across the nation ahead of the 2024 midterm elections.
WILL’s Deputy Counsel, Lucas Vebber, articulated the firm’s position, stating that revisiting the congressional lines so close to an election would undermine trust in the political process and violate federal law and the U.S. Constitution. Vebber emphasized that any challenges to the existing map should have been raised at the time of its adoption in 2022, when the Wisconsin Supreme Court approved the lines drawn by Democratic Governor Tony Evers following the 2020 census. He contended that the current lawsuits are not only time-barred but also mischaracterize the map as a partisan gerrymander, a claim that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has previously deemed non-justiciable. Vebber’s arguments highlight a broader legal principle that redistricting is a power reserved for state legislatures, not the courts, which he argues is being improperly invoked in these cases.
The backdrop of this legal tussle is a nationwide surge in redistricting disputes, with states like Texas and California also embroiled in their own battles over congressional maps. Texas has recently sought intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court after a federal panel ruled that some of its districts were racially gerrymandered. In contrast, California voters approved Proposition 50, enabling a new congressional map that is expected to create several Democratic-leaning districts, countering Republican efforts in states like Texas. As various states, including Missouri and North Carolina, move forward with redistricting, the outcomes of these legal challenges could significantly influence the political landscape and control of Congress in the upcoming elections. With control of the House and Senate at stake, the ramifications of these redistricting battles are poised to resonate far beyond state lines, shaping the future of American politics.
FIRST ON FOX:
A conservative law firm has filed two motions to intervene in separate lawsuits seeking to overturn
Wisconsin’s congressional maps
, arguing that imposing new districts now would violate federal law and the U.S. Constitution.
Last week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority ordered two three-judge panels to take up lawsuits alleging the state’s congressional map gives Republicans an unconstitutional advantage, as redistricting fights intensify nationwide ahead of next year’s midterms.
On behalf of a group of Wisconsin voters, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed motions to intervene this week, arguing the challenges are time-barred and that the newly appointed panel does not have the authority to overrule the state Supreme Court’s earlier decision approving the current congressional lines.
“Revisiting congressional lines this way, less than a year before the election, sows irreparable distrust in our country’s political process,” WILL Deputy Counsel Lucas Vebber told Fox News Digital. “We intervened on behalf of several Wisconsin voters to argue that overturning the current maps in this manner and imposing new ones would violate federal law and the U.S. Constitution.”
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WILL’s motions dispute the plaintiffs’ characterizations of Wisconsin’s congressional map as a “partisan gerrymander” or “anti-competitive.”
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“These claims are all meritless,” Vebber said, noting first that any challenge to the current map should have been brought when the map was adopted. “And on the merits, the
Wisconsin Supreme Court has already determined
that partisan gerrymandering is not a justiciable claim here in Wisconsin.”
Vebber said the lawsuits violate federal law by pushing for districts drawn to reflect statewide partisan totals instead of local representation, and by asking courts to assume a redistricting role
the Constitution
assigns to state legislatures.
He also argued that a court-ordered “mid-decade redraw” would violate the elections clause of the U.S. Constitution, calling it “precisely what the
U.S. Supreme Court
has advised state courts not to do.”
According to WILL, these motions represent the fourth and fifth time the conservative law firm has defended Wisconsin’s congressional maps in court.
When the Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted the state’s current congressional map drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in 2022 following the 2020 census, WILL said that should have been “the end to the legal and political posturing until the 2030 census.”
Instead, the group said various organizations have repeatedly attempted to challenge the map using “a variety of legal theories.”
As
redistricting battles continue nationwide
, Texas recently filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court after a panel of federal judges blocked the state from using its new congressional map, ruling that several districts were “racially gerrymandered.”
Meanwhile,
California voters
passed Proposition 50 this year, allowing the state to move forward with a new congressional map expected to create up to five Democratic-leaning districts, in what Democrats say is an effort to counter Republican-backed redistricting efforts in states like Texas.
Missouri and North Carolina have
already redrawn congressional lines
, and states like Ohio are moving ahead with new maps as redistricting battles play out in courts nationwide ahead of next year’s midterm elections with control of the House and Senate, and Trump’s legislative agenda, hanging in the balance.
Eric
Eric is a seasoned journalist covering US Politics news.
