(Headline USA) The leftist-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday refused to reconsider its ruling ordering the drawing of new legislative maps, rejecting a request from Republican lawmakers to put its December order on hold.
Dark-money billionaires converged on the state during the last election cycle with the goal of installing controversial Justice Janet Protasiewicz in order to flip the ideological balance of its majority.
Protasiewicz campaigned on promises to reverse the state’s longstanding pro-life law, gerrymander its legislative districts and give Democrats the advantage in any election challenges arising from the 2024 race after the swing state played an outsize role in helping steal the 2020 race for Joe Biden.
The court ruled 4-3 on Dec. 22 that the current election maps, drawn by Republicans, were unconstitutional and must be redone in time for the November election.
Friday is the deadline for parties in the lawsuit, which includes state lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, to submit new maps.
Consultants hired by the Supreme Court will review those submissions and issue their own report, and perhaps their own maps, by Feb. 1. State elections officials have said maps must be in place by March 15 to be in play for the 2024 election.
Republican lawmakers asked the court to put its ruling on hold, saying they couldn’t make Friday’s deadline to submit maps. They also argued that the court didn’t listen to their arguments in the case and didn’t give them a chance to respond to the deadline for new boundaries.
But the court on Thursday voted 4-3 to reject the request, with the court’s four-justice leftist majority voting to deny it.
The legislative electoral maps drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2011 cemented the party’s majorities, which now stand at 64-35 in the Assembly and a 22-11 supermajority in the Senate.
The court ruled in December that the current boundaries are unconstitutional because they aren’t contiguous. Many districts include sections of land that aren’t connected, resulting in maps that resemble Swiss cheese.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
