Wisconsin
Dem leader Greta Neubauer backs redrawing Wisconsin congressional maps
Tony Evers signs Wisconsin legislative maps ending GOP gerrymander
Republicans in Wisconsin have enjoyed lopsided majorities in the Legislature under gerrymandered maps drawn in 2011.
MADISON – Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, said she supports redrawing Wisconsin’s congressional maps, a matter currently before the state Supreme Court.
Neubauer’s comments came the day after former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, a Democratic candidate for governor, similarly signaled his support.
“I think that the current congressional maps are gerrymandered. Everyone knows that Wisconsin’s a purple state. It should be about 50-50. We’ve got six Republican congresspeople and two Democratic congresspeople,” Neubauer told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in an end-of-year interview covering a variety of topics. “So I think that these maps are not fair, and I do hope that they will consider whether new maps should be drawn.”
Last week, the state Supreme Court’s liberal majority appointed two three-judge panels to hear lawsuits from liberal groups challenging Wisconsin’s congressional lines before the 2026 elections.
President Donald Trump earlier this year pushed Republican-leaning states to redraw their congressional maps in order to add GOP-held seats in the U.S. House. The effort prompted some Democratic-leaning states to embark on their own efforts to add blue seats.
Wisconsin, where partisan control is divided between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and a Republican-led Legislature, has not followed suit.
Evers, in a September interview with the Journal Sentinel, said it would be a mistake for Wisconsin to engage in the partisan arms race of attempting new congressional maps. Not only would it be “bad politics” for Democrats, he said at the time, he also didn’t think the party could pick up enough seats to make a difference.
The state’s current congressional lines were drawn by Evers. The state Supreme Court approved his set of maps in 2022 because it made the fewest changes compared to ones submitted by Republicans and others.
Conservative justices on the state’s high court strongly objected to the recent orders sending the lawsuits to three-judge panels, noting that the court has previously rejected challenges to Wisconsin’s congressional districts.
In its Nov. 25 orders, the liberal-led court concluded the two complaints constitute “an action to challenge the apportionment of any congressional or state legislative district” under a 2011 state law that requires such challenges to be heard by a panel appointed by the state’s high court.
Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.
About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry on Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) southwest of Wisconsin’s capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde reflects on early March Madness exit
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde said the Badgers ‘thought we could do so many things’ in the NCAA Tournament before it ended abrupty with an upset loss.
Wisconsin men’s basketball has added a sharpshooting wing via the transfer portal.
Miami (Ohio) transfer Eian Elmer has signed with the Badgers, the team announced April 18. The 6-foot-7 wing will join UW with one year of eligibility remaining.
Elmer averaged a career-high 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 49.8% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range in 2025-26. His production helped the RedHawks go 32-2 and earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
“We are really excited to add another excellent addition to our spring signees,” UW coach Greg Gard said in a release. “Eian brings a wealth of experience and scoring punch as a 6-7 wing. … A terrific shooter, his skillset and production fit excellently into our plan as we build out next year’s team. Throughout our evaluation process, our staff loved his size, power and skill and truly believe he will thrive in our system.”
Elmer is Wisconsin’s third transfer portal addition since the end of the 2025-26 season, joining former George Washington guard Trey Autry and former Hofstra forward Victory Onuetu. UW also added Australian guard Owen Foxwell.
The additions of Autry, Onuetu and now Elmer leave Gard’s staff with three more roster spots to fill ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Badgers are looking to replace much of their production from a 2025-26 team that went 24-11. Nolan Winter is expected to be the team’s only returning starter after John Blackwell and Aleksas Bieliauskas entered the transfer portal and Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde exhausted their eligibility.
MILWAUKEE – Friday’s severe storms have passed. And with that, the threat of any severe weather has also passed for the immediate future as no storms or rain are expected for several days.
However, plenty of damage remains across southeastern Wisconsin as of Saturday morning, in addition to the ongoing flooding threat.
Several area rivers are at flood stage, and there are multiple river flood warnings in effect.
FOX6 Weekend WakeUp on Saturday begins at 6 a.m.
On the scene in the morning
What we know:
Farmstead damage in Franklin
FOX6’s Hayley Spitler is in Franklin on Saturday morning, April 18, getting a daylight look at the damage from last night’s storms.
Storm damage in Caledonia
Friday’s storms left quite the mark across southern and southeastern Wisconsin, including at L and L Farms and Greenhouse in Caledonia.
FOX6 Weather Extras
Local perspective:
Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:
FOX6 Storm Center app
FOX LOCAL Mobile app
FOX Weather app
Maps and radar
We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.
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School and business closings
When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.
FOX6 Weather Experts in social media
The Source: Information in this post was compiled by the FOX6 Weather Experts.
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