Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed new state legislative maps into law Feb. 19 in hopes of limiting gerrymandering, according to Campaign Legal. These new maps helped Wisconsin Democrats flip 14 State Senate and Assembly seats from red to blue in the 2024 election, according to Wisconsin Watch.
Republicans will maintain the majority in both the Assembly and Senate but at slimmer margins than during most previous legislative sessions, according to Wisconsin Watch. The new legislative gains and district boundaries will also help set up Democrats to win legislative majorities in 2026, according to AP News.
The new maps allow all Wisconsinites’ voices to be heard and create an expectation of working together for the good of Wisconsin, State Sen. Kristin Alfheim, D-Appleton, said.
“Without maps, we can’t democratically work through where we are, what the outcome is and what we might want to change in the future,” Alfheim said. “Fair maps are the basis of democracy.”
Alfheim said Wisconsin should never have had the previous set of maps that have been in place for over a decade and were drawn so that almost two-thirds of the districts support the Republican Party. Alfheim said she was astounded that the maps took so long to fix.
The Gerrymandering Project also declared the 2011 Wisconsin legislative maps to have a significant Republican advantage, and it gave them an “F” grade.
Alfheim said she gives tremendous respect to Evers for presenting a set of fair maps — ones that do not strongly favor Democrats or Republicans. A fair set of maps should be flexible enough to shift from purple to light blue to light red as voters’ views change, Alfheim said.
Alfheim said while the new maps are a step toward creating a system that prevents any party from dominating and drawing maps for their own benefit, Wisconsin’s congressional maps still need to be addressed.
State Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, said the new maps helped Democrats win 45 seats in the Assembly this election, which she said is a huge achievement.
“On the [State] Senate side, we won every single winnable seat in any in any universe,” Roys said. “There was no world in which we were going to win more than four seats.”
Roys said this was a result of decreasing Wisconsin’s gerrymandering, as well as the work done by Democratic candidates.
The policies that Democrats in Wisconsin have been trying to advance are very popular with all Wisconsinites, Roys said. Issues like reproductive rights, gay rights, legalization of marijuana, affordable housing and fully funding higher educational institutions are all essential for Wisconsin’s future.
Republicans, despite their narrow majority, are unlikely to shift their priorities or respond to voters’ calls for bipartisan cooperation on these issues, Roys said. She criticized the party’s focus on tax cuts for the wealthy and said this can leave public schools and communities underfunded.
Roys said she thinks it is very likely that Wisconsin Democrats will have the Senate majority in two years with an 18-15 split. She believes that not long after President-elect Donald Trump enters office again, Wisconsin could have a Democratic trifecta — meaning that Democrats would hold the governorship and control both the Senate and Assembly.
“After two years of a Trump presidency, after the devastation that he is going to wreak on the economy of expanding tax cuts for billionaires at the expense of working people, and, of course, the chaos and violence and division that he’s already working to foment, it’s very likely we’ll have a Democratic trifecta in two years,” Roys said.
To gain the majority, Democrats must point out the failures of Trump and Republican policies in terms of their impacts on working families and Democrats must present new solutions to these issues, Roys said.
Roys said she hopes Republicans will respond to solutions that help lower the cost of health care, increase wages and lower the cost of goods.
Whether voters are focused more on community or fiscal issues, they should understand that a strong economy comes from an educated workforce, strong education systems, a strong infrastructure and a welcoming community, Alfheim said.
Alfheim said she sees a problem with Republicans focusing only on the economy and Democrats focusing only on the community, but she said it is necessary to work on both the economy and the community.
Alfheim also said she is frustrated by the lack of productivity when conversing with Republicans to solve issues. She believes in finding a shared vision between Democrats and Republicans to pass efficient policies.
“There is almost nothing in this world that is deep red or deep blue,” Alfheim said. “Almost nothing. The reality is we can and we must find what part of a vision we can share.”
