New Legislature, Same Standard:
Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition Calls for an End to Partisan Gerrymandering
11.5.26
MADISON, WI – In response to a shift in power in Wisconsin’s Capitol, iuscely Flores, Organizing Director for the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition, issued the following statement:
“On Tuesday, gerrymandering backfired across America. Despite federal efforts to rig maps and a Supreme Court decision that cleared the way for a handful of Southern states to suppress the Black community from voting, voters of all creeds showed up in droves.
“No matter how you are feeling about last night’s results, Wisconsin is entering a new phase, and the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition's commitment to ending partisan gerrymandering remains exactly the same.
“For the entirety of our Coalition’s existence, we have been working under a Republican-controlled Legislature. That’s going to change come this January when Democrats take control, but our principles will not change. Fair maps are not about which political party wins. They are about ensuring that voters choose their representatives and not the other way around.
“With new leadership taking office in January, Wisconsin has an opportunity to take the next critical step. The ultimate goal is to establish an Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) that moves map-drawing power out of the hands of politicians and into the hands of citizen commissioners.
“In 2024, Gov. Evers signed new legislative maps into law, marking a historic victory for fair representation. And now, the entirety of the Legislature has been voted in under those maps. We fought hard for this progress – not because we wanted to see more Democrats elected – but because Wisconsin’s extreme partisan gerrymander had denied voters fair representation for far too long.
“Gerrymandering benefits the party in power, allowing them to manipulate their own districts to retain and gain influence at the expense of voters. When politicians choose their voters, communities lose their voices. Accountability suffers. And our democracy becomes less responsive to the people it is intended to serve.
“We have a saying: Gerrymandering is a bipartisan disease. It does not become acceptable simply because the political party drawing the maps changes. Our commitment to ending partisan gerrymandering has never depended on who controls the legislature. And it never will.
“We look forward to working with new leadership. But, above all, we are a nonpartisan coalition deeply committed to establishing an IRC that ends gerrymandering in Wisconsin. The opportunity to end partisan gerrymandering is before us. The responsibility to act now belongs to those elected to serve the people of Wisconsin.”
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The mission of the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition is to ensure representative government for all, by advocating for and enacting (in law and practice) an independent redistricting process, building a truly fair and accountable judiciary, and securing the rights of the populace to fair and equal access to voting, by educating and engaging the people of Wisconsin. Learn more at fairmapswi.com