Why Wisconsin Republicans suddenly embraced redistricting changes and Democrats want no part of it

MADISON – After a decade of Democratic efforts to adopt the "Iowa model" of nonpartisan redistricting in Wisconsin, GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos — who shot down the idea at every turn — appeared to have a change of heart. Assembly Republicans introduced a bill on Tuesday that he said would do just that.

But this time, Democrats wanted no part of it. Within an hour of the announcement, it was clear the minority party saw the proposal as more of a fig leaf than an olive branch.

Gov. Tony Evers called it "bogus." Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer wrote it off as "an obvious attempt to distract from (Republicans') efforts to impeach Justice (Janet) Protasiewicz and undermine our democracy." Sen. Kelda Roys characterized it as “a ridiculous political stunt meant just to manipulate headlines, otherwise known as the Robin Vos special.”

"Sometimes you have to listen, and you change your mind," Vos told reporters of his about-face on Tuesday.

While he prefers Wisconsin's existing redistricting system, the Assembly Speaker said, he thinks "people want politicians who say, 'I have an open mind to be persuaded.'"

Democrats aren’t buying that.

“I don't see this as a genuine offer,” said Sen. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit. “I think Speaker Vos doesn't do anything unless it benefits him. And there's a reason he's putting this out right now to distract from his talk of impeachment, and to try to find any excuse to delay action in the state Supreme Court that might overturn his gerrymandered maps. I don't think it is his goal to get fair maps and end gerrymandering in Wisconsin.”

Republicans aggressively used the redistricting process in 2011 to draw maps that heavily favor the party in legislative races, after the GOP wave election in 2010 that gave the party control of both houses of the Legislature and the governor's mansion. The state Supreme Court last year ruled in favor of maps drawn by legislative Republicans that made minimal changes to the 2011 election boundaries that handed them a lop-sided majority.

More: Gilbert: How Wisconsin's redistricting guarantees a lopsided Republican legislature in a 50/50 state

After years of opposing such plans, Vos and Assembly Republicans announced Tuesday they would pursue legislation this week that would allow the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau to write new legislative maps instead of partisans.

The move is aimed at bypassing lawsuits before the state Supreme Court that seek to rewrite the current GOP-favorable maps that were adopted in 2021. Republicans have threatened to pursue impeachment proceedings against Protasiewicz if she doesn't recuse herself from the cases, having referred to the state's maps as "rigged" during her election campaign this year.

"Hopefully it means that we will take all of the money that has been wasted by the liberal interests suing us over the maps and instead we get to say we don't need to waste those taxpayer dollars because we can adapt the process that has been used flawlessly in Iowa," Vos said Tuesday.

More: Wisconsin is famous for its cliffhanger elections. But further down the ballot, competition barely exists.

The Assembly is set to take up the legislation on Thursday. Vos said he has "briefed" the state Senate but did not say whether Senate Republicans were supportive.

It’s clear, though, that Democrats are not — even those who have spearheaded previous efforts to implement nonpartisan redistricting.

“I don’t like to vote for any bill on any subject that isn’t properly vetted,” said Rep. Deb Andraca, D-Whitefish Bay, who noted the bill is going to the floor two days after its introduction, without a public hearing. “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right, and this is a false deadline.”

Democratic lawmakers who have worked on redistricting bills are put off by the fact that the GOP proposal is most similar to a bill from 2015 — rather than more recent proposals that have been adjusted and still received support from a handful of Republicans.

Those measures were included in several of Evers’ budget proposals and removed by Republicans. A key difference between those proposals and the one introduced by Assembly Republicans lies with what happens if the Legislature can’t agree on a set of maps after three tries.

Under the GOP bill, the Legislative Reference Bureau would submit maps to the Legislature, which could reject the first two proposals. Once a third proposal is introduced, lawmakers could amend it with a simple majority. It would then require the governor’s approval, and would likely end up in the courts without an agreement — unless the Legislature were able to override the governor’s veto.

Recent bills, and Evers’ budget proposal, would have required a three-fourths majority to approve the final maps.

"We don't want to make a change just for the sake of making a change. What we want is a system that guarantees that the voters of Wisconsin get to elect their legislature rather than politicians picking their own voter," Roys said.

In 2021, the last time the Marquette University Law School polled on the question, 63% of voters said they thought a nonpartisan commission should be responsible for drawing legislative districts, compared to 25% who thought it should be left to the Legislature and the governor.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why GOP suddenly backs redistricting reform and Dems aren't buying it