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Wisconsin Supreme Court asked to draw new legislative boundaries over Republican objections

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Wisconsin Supreme Court asked to draw new legislative boundaries over Republican objections


MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic voters in Wisconsin hoping to undo Republican-drawn legislative district maps told the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court on Monday that it should create new maps by March — forcing every lawmaker to stand for election under redrawn lines in 2024.

“The current maps are unsalvageable,” attorneys for the voters argued.

But Republicans who control the Legislature countered that Democrats were exercising “raw political power” and trying to take advantage of the new liberal majority on the court to overturn its 2021 ruling that adopted the current maps.

“A change in this Court’s membership cannot justify overturning that precedent,” attorneys for the Legislature wrote in legal filings. Oral arguments are set for Nov. 21.

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Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has intervened on the side of voters asking the court to toss out the Republican-drawn maps, widely seen as among the most gerrymandered in the country, and draw new ones ahead of the 2024 election.

Republicans have been in majority control of both the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly since 2011. During that time, they have enacted a wide range of conservative priorities. They have all but eliminated collective bargaining for public workers, and since 2019 they’ve been a block on Evers’ agenda. Republicans are also just two seats short of a supermajority that would allow them to overturn Evers’ vetoes.

New maps favoring Democrats would weaken Republicans’ grip on legislative power, which they have also used in the Senate to fire Evers appointees and to threaten impeachment of Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz and the state’s elections leader.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos continues to threaten impeachment of Protasiewicz after she refused to step down from the redistricting case. Impeachment has drawn bipartisan opposition and two former conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court justices, asked by Vos to investigate the possibility, told him it was not warranted. Vos last week suggested he would pursue impeachment if Protasiewicz votes to throw out the Republican maps.

Republicans have argued Protasiewicz has pre-judged the case based on comments she made during the campaign calling the current maps “unfair” and “rigged.”

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Those comments “invited” the filing of the current lawsuit, the Legislature argued in its latest filing with the Supreme Court. If Protasiewicz overturns the court’s earlier ruling adopting the Republican-drawn map, that will be evidence of unconstitutional “prejudgment and bias,” the Legislature argued.

Protasiewicz, in her decision not to recuse from the case, said that while stating her opinion about the maps, she never made a promise or pledge about how she would rule on the case.

The redistricting lawsuit, filed the day after Protasiewicz joined the court in August and flipped majority control to 4-3 for liberals, asks that all 132 state lawmakers be up for election next year in newly drawn districts. In Senate districts that are midway through a four-year term in 2024, there would be a special election, with the winners serving two years. The regular four-year cycle would resume again in 2026.

The Legislature argued that the court should give it time to draw new maps and not rush to enact something any sooner than the 2026 election.

Wisconsin’s redistricting case centers on whether the current districts are not contiguous and if they violate the Wisconsin Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine.

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The majority of current legislative districts — 54 out of 99 in the Assembly and 21 out of 33 in the Senate — violate the state constitution’s contiguity requirement, attorneys challenging the maps argued Monday.

That makes Wisconsin an outlier nationally, with 46 other states having no noncontiguous districts, and Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Tennessee having a total of nine noncontiguous districts, attorneys argued.

Wisconsin’s redistricting laws, backed up by state and federal court rulings over the past 50 years, have permitted districts under certain circumstances to be noncontiguous, attorneys for the Legislature argued. Even if the court decided to address the issue, it could only affect alleged areas where districts aren’t contiguous and not upend existing district lines, Republicans argued.

Those seeking new maps contend that the Supreme Court violated the separation of powers doctrine when it adopted the Republican-drawn map that Evers had previously vetoed, “improperly seizing powers for itself the Constitution assigns to other branches.”

The legislative electoral maps drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2011 cemented the party’s majorities, which now stand at 64-35 in the Assembly and a 22-11 supermajority in the Senate. Republicans adopted maps last year that were similar to the existing ones.

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Wisconsin’s Assembly districts rank among the most gerrymandered nationally, with Republicans routinely winning far more seats than would be expected based on their average share of the vote, according to an Associated Press analysis.





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Wisconsin

Who should be this week’s Wisconsin Student of the Week? Vote in our poll.

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Who should be this week’s Wisconsin Student of the Week? Vote in our poll.


Thanks to great participation in last week’s USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN’s Student of the Week poll, we were able to crown our first winner.

Now, we need your help again to choose our second winner. This week’s finalists are Jovan Adamavich, a freshman doing big things at Sheboygan South High School, and Ethan LeCaptain, a senior who demonstrates leadership at Green Bay’s Notre Dame Academy.

Be sure to vote for your choice in the second round of this statewide initiative. Voting runs from 5 a.m. Monday, Oct. 7, until noon Thursday, Oct. 10.

Here’s what those who nominated our finalists say about them:

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Jovan Adamavich, Sheboygan South High School, grade 9

“Jovan is currently earning As and Bs in school, and is working hard for his school’s football teams — playing both junior varsity and some varsity games — as a freshman. Jovan is also always polite and considerate in the space he shares with me and other students as part of Boys & Girls Clubs Be Great Graduate program. His hard work academically, athletically, and positive school citizenship is impressive!”

— Mary Michels, graduation specialist at Boys & Girls Clubs of Sheboygan County

Ethan LeCaptain, Notre Dame Academy, grade 12

“Ethan LeCaptain is a senior and has a strong work ethic. He knows what needs to get done. In addition, he also knows that other students, especially underclassmen, may struggle in their classes; therefore he has committed to tutoring others on a weekly basis. Finally, outside of the classroom, Ethan is a two-sport athlete who carries himself in a dignified manner both on and off the field of play.”

— Cassidy McGowan, learning resource consultant at Notre Dame Academy

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Click the link below to vote:

Do you work with youth and know someone who should be Student of the Week? Reach out to Debi Young, statewide education editor, at debi.young@jrn.com to get a link to the nomination form.

Madison Lammert covers child care and early education across Wisconsin as a Report for America corps member based at The Appleton Post-Crescent. To contact her, email mlammert@gannett.comPlease consider supporting journalism that informs our democracy with a tax-deductible gift to Report for America by visiting postcrescent.com/RFA.



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Wisconsin NICA league visits Rhinelander for the first time

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Wisconsin NICA league visits Rhinelander for the first time


RHINELANDER, Wis. (WJFW) – The Wisconsin Chapter of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association – also known as NICA – held the fifth race of their 2024 season at Camp Tesomas Boy Scout Camp on Sunday. Renee Griswold is the Wisconsin NICA league director says the goal is to help kids of middle and high school age to find community and be their best selves through mountain biking.

“We have 977 athletes competing from across Wisconsin,” Griswold said. “They are riding a brand-new course that was built for this event. And we’re just really happy to be here.”

While the Association has never been to Rhinelander, Griswold said the Northwoods terrain had everyone excited to get up to Rhinelander for a day of riding.

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“The topography, the nature that we’re riding through,” Griswold said. “This venue itself, Camp Tesomas, is a Boy Scout camp and they have all of the amenities that we need. They have trails here already. They have space for camping, space for parking, all of the infield fun that we need. We can do all the activities we need to at this one big beautiful venue.”

Coming to beautiful new places like the Northwoods is part of what Griswold calls her “NICA why.” Which encourages athletes and coaches to ask themselves what they are riding for and why it’s important.

“For me personally, my NICA why is creating a safe space for our student-athletes and our coaches and our families to have new experiences,” Griswold said. “Everyone can do this to the best of their ability and make it their own experience and conquer their own challenges.”

The Rhinelander Northwoods Composite team also took some time to talk about what kinds of challenges they were expecting for Sunday’s races. And while they may only be in 7th grade, these kids came ready for a race on their hometown turf.

“Today…it’s a cold one, so we’ve got to stay warm,” Rhinelander Composite Mountain Biking team member Jase Houg said. “So, it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be challenging for most kids but I feel like it’s going to be a good race.”

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“It’s a very technical race…more technical than a lot of the other ones,” added Houg’s teammate Hans Sommer. “There’s some bigger hill climbs and more technical riding.”

When asked what their favorite part about mountain biking is, they said that anyone can find a welcoming community in the sport.

“There’s other trails, not just super technical trails or super trails that have a bunch of jumps. There’s also trails that are fun, flowy and just more fun to ride,” Sommer said. “And you’re out in the wild. Usually, you go around school and your friends are asking you ‘what’s the Rhinelander bike team?’ and you tell them ‘oh, it’s fun. You go out with a mountain bike and buddies and you go ride around on the trails,’” Houg added.



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Trump Wisconsin visit; rallying in Juneau, Dodge County

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Trump Wisconsin visit; rallying in Juneau, Dodge County


Former President Donald Trump will deliver remarks at a rally in Juneau, Wisconsin on Sunday, Oct. 6.

He started speaking at 2 p.m. at the Dodge County Airport.

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Trump was last in Wisconsin on Oct. 1 – with stops in Milwaukee and Waunakee. He delivered remarks at Discovery World in Milwaukee on Tuesday evening. He also visited Dane Manufacturing in Waunakee.

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The day before, on Saturday, Trump rallied in Butler, Pennsylvania, the same city where he was nearly assassinated.

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Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned in the Fox Valley in Wisconsin on Thursday, Oct. 3.

President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Milwaukee on Tuesday, Oct. 8, to discuss his administration’s “progress replacing lead pipes and creating good-paying jobs.”



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