Wisconsin
New legislative maps lay before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Here’s what we know.
State lawmakers, petitioners and Gov. Tony Evers submitted their new legislative maps to the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday after the court ordered the Republican-drawn maps to be revised less than a year before the 2024 election.
The submitted maps — which would reduce Republican advantage in Wisconsin — will be in place by March 15 before the April 2 presidential primary election.
On Dec. 22 the court ruled in favor of the liberal-leaning firm Law Forward, which argued the legislative maps are unconstitutional because districts are not contiguous, meaning all parts of a voting district have to physically be in contact.
The court said state senators in odd-numbered districts will remain in office until their current term ends in 2026.
Here’s what we know about the recent map submissions:
Republican control will not vanish
Currently, Republicans hold a 64-35 majority in the Assembly and a 22-11 supermajority in the Senate.
Republican lawmakers have controlled much of the legislative map-drawing process since 2011, and the GOP is two Assembly seats short of a full supermajority that would allow them to overturn Evers’ vetoes.
In maps proposed by Evers, Democrats could secure control of the Senate and Assembly if they perform similarly to how Evers did in his 2022 re-election. If Democrats get margins similar to the party’s loss against U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in 2022, Republicans would control the Assembly 51-48 and the Senate 17-16, according to the Cap Times.
“Wisconsinites don’t want Republican or Democrat maps because Wisconsin isn’t a red or blue state—we’re a purple state, and our maps should reflect that basic fact,” Evers said in a press release.
Per analysis from the Cap Times, Law Forward’s proposed maps would allocate 52% of the Legislature’s seats to the Republicans. Another proposal from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), a conservative legal group, would see Democrats gain eight Assembly seats and two Senate seats.
Maps submitted by Democratic senators would also allocate a Republican advantage in the Legislature but create a few competitive elections in Republican-held seats.
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“We are confident that the maps selected by the Wisconsin Supreme Court will reinstate fairness in Wisconsin’s electoral system and once again put people in charge of their state government,” the Democratic senators said in a press release
Maps should follow the court’s guidelines, Evers says
The court’s December ruling heavily relied on a provision in Article IV of the Wisconsin Constitution that requires districts be contiguous.
Evers said in a press release his submission is responsive to “the will of the people” and meets the court’s criteria laid out for fair maps:
- Legislative maps should be contiguous and compact.
- All districts should have roughly equal populations living within their borders.
- Maps must comply with the federal Voting Rights Act: a law that bans redistricting models that decrease a minority group’s voting voice.
- Maps should not have a partisan sway towards one party over another.
Additionally, Evers said new maps should increase the number of competitive seats in the Legislature.
The court can step in if needed
The justices said they are prepared to adopt new maps if the Legislature and Evers cannot agree on a new plan.
The court hired two outside consultants — Bernard Grofman from the University of California, Irvine and Johnathan Cervas from Carnegie Mellon University — to review submissions and report back to the justices.
Their review is due Feb. 1. If the consultants find none of the maps satisfactory, they may submit their own districts or recommend changes.
Initially, Republican lawmakers asked the court to put its ruling on hold, but the court rejected the request in a 4-3 ruling Thursday. Republican lawmakers may appeal the court’s December ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Ava Menkes is the state news editor at The Daily Cardinal. She has covered multiple stories about Wisconsin politics and written in-depth about nurses unions and youth voter turnout. Follow her on Twitter at @AvaMenkes.
In a bit of a surprise, Wisconsin Badgers starting center Jake Renfro is using a medical hardship year and entering the transfer portal for his final season of eligibility.
Renfro, a sixth-year senior in 2024, battled numerous injuries this season, limiting him to only four games after having season-ending surgery. He was a full-time starter for Wisconsin in 2024 after missing the entire 2023 season except for the team’s bowl game due to injury.
Prior to his time at Wisconsin, Renfro had played for head coach Luke Fickell at Cincinnati for three seasons. He played in seven games as a freshman in 2020, making six starts at center. He then was the full-time starter as a sophomore in 2021, earning All-AAC honors before missing the entire 2022 season due to injury.
Now, he’s set to come back to college football for a seventh year, rather than turn pro, and will look to do so at another school.
“I want to thank Coach Fickell, the entire coaching and training staff, my teammates, and the University of Wisconsin for everything over the past three seasons,” Renfro wrote. “I am grateful for the support, development, friendships, and memories I have made during my time in Madison. After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to enter the transfer portal and use a medical hardship year to continue my college football journey. I will always appreciate my time as a Badger.”
Renfro was one of the biggest supporters of Fickell publicly, being a vocal leader on the team as the starting center.
With his departure, Wisconsin could need a new starting left tackle, left guard, and center next season, depending on whether Joe Brunner heads to the NFL or returns for another season.
Wisconsin volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield discusses tournament win
Wisconsin volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield commented on the Badgers’ ‘huge’ win over North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
MADISON — It did not take long for Alicia Andrew to text her younger sister after watching the NCAA volleyball selection show with her Wisconsin teammates in a lounge area in the south end zone of Camp Randall Stadium.
“I was like, ‘Girl!’” Andrew said. “She’s like, ‘I know! I’ll see you in Texas! And I was like, ‘I’m so excited!’”
Andrew will not see her younger sister in the Gregory Gym stands like any other family members, but rather on the court as an opposing player in the Badgers’ NCAA tournament regional semifinal match against Stanford.
Alicia Andrew is a 6-foot-3 redshirt senior middle blocker for Wisconsin. Lizzy Andrew is a 6-foot-5 sophomore middle blocker for Stanford. The sisters will play against each other for the first time with a spot in the NCAA regional finals on the line.
“Certainly when you’re having two high-level Division I starters on teams that are top five, top 10 in the country playing the same position, that’s pretty unique,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said. “They’re both talented and competitive. But I also know that the players aren’t going to make it about themselves or the person that’s on the other side of the net. They’re parts of teams that are trying to move on and move forward and play great volley.”
Alicia has naturally fielded questions about the sibling rivalry, but she is “not reading too much into rivalry stuff and just playing this sport.”
“It’s another game,” she said after a recent UW practice. “Yes, it’s her across the net. But it’s a business. We both want to move on to the next round.”
Both players have played key parts in their respective teams’ path to this stage.
Alicia, after transferring from Baylor, is the only UW player to appear in all 98 sets this season and one of five to appear in all 30 matches. She is second on the team with 111 blocks, barely trailing fellow middle blocker Carter Booth’s 119.
“Really wants to be good for the people around her,” Sheffield said of Alicia. “Wants to do her job. Takes pride in her job. There’s a maturity, but yet there’s a playfulness that is a really good balance for her. Love coaching her. She’s wired the right way. She really is.”
Lizzy, meanwhile, ranks seventh in the country with a .441 hitting percentage in 2025 after earning a spot on the all-ACC freshman team in 2024. She also has experience playing with the U.S. U21 national team.
“I’m so proud of how hard she worked and her journey to Stanford,” Alicia said. “She puts in so much work, and she just loves the sport of volleyball. And I have loved watching her grow. It’s been fun to see her get better and better every year. And this past season, she’s been playing lights out.”
That pride has turned Alicia into a frequent viewer of ACC volleyball, of course whenever it has not conflicted with the Badgers’ own matches.
“We try to watch as many of each other’s games as we can, and I always just love watching her play,” she said. “I’m so proud of her. She’s just worked her tail off at Stanford, so to see her excel has been so fun.”
The Andrew sisters — Alicia, Lizzy and Natalie, who is on the rowing team at the U.S. Naval Academy — competed together in high school. (They also have a younger brother, William.) Competing against each other is a new concept for them, though.
“We’re not huge trash talkers, neither one of us,” Alicia said. “So I think that she’s going to play her game. I’m going to play my game. We’re going to have our heads down. There might be some looking across and smiling because we make the exact same expressions and quirky faces and reactions.”
The sisters don’t look the same – Lizzy has blonde hair and Alicia has brown hair. But Alicia quickly sees the resemblance with those on-court mannerisms.
“If there’s a silly play or if there is like a really unexpected dump or something, she’ll turn around and make the exact same face that I will,” Alicia said. “And it’s funny watching her on TV because I’m like, ‘Wow, that looks scary familiar.’”
They have some similarities off the court, too.
“We’re just goobers,” Alicia said. “We just like to have a good time together. Obviously she’s my little sister, but we have always been a close family — like all the siblings — so I feel like we’ve done all the things together growing up in all the sports.”
The Andrew parents are perhaps the biggest winners of the NCAA tournament bracket.
“My parents were super excited,” Alicia said. “They don’t have to split the travel plan, so they can save some frequent flyer miles there and both be in Texas. … They’re always trying to coordinate all the schedules.”
The Andrew family made T-shirts for the unique sisterly matchup. (Alicia thinks she is getting one considering they asked her and Lizzy for their shirt sizes in the family group chat.) The shirts are black, too, so there is no favoritism between Wisconsin and Stanford’s variations of cardinal red.
“They have a Stanford ‘S’ and a tree on it and then a Wisconsin ‘W’ and a little Badger on it, too,” Andrew said. “They’re really excited about these shirts. They’re being non-biased; they’re repping both daughters.”
RICHMOND TOWNSHIP, Wis. (FOX 9) – A crash in western Wisconsin killed an 8-year-old boy and seriously injured a 27-year-old Wednesday morning.
Fatal crash in Richmond Township, Wisconsin
What we know:
According to St. Croix County, just before 10 a.m., deputies responded to a crash on the 1500 block of County Road A.
Authorities say that a 27-year-old woman was driving a van southbound, and lost control on an icy curve and collided with another vehicle.
The woman suffered serious injuries from the crash and was taken to the hospital to be treated, law enforcement said. The boy was critically injured, and was also taken to the hospital, where he later died.
Both were wearing seat belts during the crash.
The driver of the other vehicle was treated for minor injuries at the scene and was released.
This is the 10th traffic fatality in St. Croix County.
What we don’t know:
The current condition of the woman is unknown.
The Source: A press release from St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office.
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