Liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley is retiring from the court, which currently has a 4-3 liberal majority. Liberal Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford will face conservative Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel in the race to replace Bradley.
Crawford attended a briefing in January billed as “a chance to put two more House seats in play,” signaling the court’s possible intent should the liberals hold their majority.
Crawford has not expressed her intent regarding the redrawing of districts, but House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) mentioned a need to redraw the congressional districts in the state.
“As soon as possible, we need to be able to revisit that and have fair lines,” Jeffries said. “The only way for that to be even a significant possibility is if you have an enlightened Supreme Court.”
The court ordered the redrawing of districts for the state legislature in December 2023. The new lines may have contributed to Wisconsin Democrats gaining 10 seats in the state legislature in 2024.
Jeffries said the current congressional districts in Wisconsin are gerrymandered to favor Republicans. In 2024, Republicans won 51% of the vote in the state but won six out of eight congressional districts. Although the state may favor Republicans, there are other states that favor Democrats.
Maryland, for example, has only one Republican seat even though Republicans won 34% of the statewide popular vote. California is another state that notoriously underrepresents Republicans, with 39% of the vote translating to less than 20% of the seats.
On a state-by-state basis, there is some imbalance in congressional representation, but it all averages out. Republicans won 50.6% of the congressional popular vote and the same percentage of House seats in 2024.
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The margins for control of the House are extremely close. Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to regain control of the lower chamber in 2026. A redrawn map would essentially give Democrats two free seats. Even though she has not made any public statement in favor of redrawing Wisconsin’s districts, Crawford’s attendance at the briefing signals that she at least supports the idea.
Gerrymandering is not a one-sided issue. Democrats can’t complain about pro-Republican gerrymanders if they are unwilling to fix their own states’ district lines. If Democrats want to redraw the district lines in Wisconsin because they say it favors Republicans, they should also do the same for California or Maryland.
