With Republicans currently holding six of Wisconsin’s eight seats in the House, the decision has potential ramifications for the upcoming elections.
The liberal-majority Wisconsin Supreme Court handed a victory to Republicans on Friday as it rejected a bid by Democrats to revisit the state’s congressional maps.
The maps, signed into law last month by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, had faced scrutiny from Democrats who sought changes ahead of this year’s congressional elections in the swing state.
The brief order issued by the court did not provide the reasoning behind the decision, and it did not detail the positions of the seven justices.
The state Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the challenge came after it ordered new legislative maps in December, finding the Republican-drawn ones unconstitutional.
With Republicans currently holding six of Wisconsin’s eight seats in the House, the decision has potential ramifications for the upcoming elections.
Mr. Evers signed the new legislative districts into law on Feb. 19 after Republicans folded in support to avoid the Supreme Court drawing up the new boundaries that could be even more unfavorable in the case of a stalemate, which happened last year in another legal case.
The new maps change the boundary lines for congressional districts that will be in effect during the upcoming November elections.
Earlier this year, Democrats had urged the court to solicit new congressional map proposals that “comply with Wisconsin law” following a change approved by the state Supreme Court’s new liberal majority.
Their filing noted the court’s constitutional duty to independently assess the validity of the maps, arguing that failure to act would subject Wisconsin voters to a decade under maps lacking a basis in state law.
