BROOKFIELD, Wis. — Governor Tony Evers signed new legislative district maps during a ceremony Monday at the capitol. The Republican-controlled legislature passed a bill with boundaries drawn by the governor to avoid the state Supreme Court deciding on districts that could be even more favorable to Democrats.
Around a dozen Assembly seats are expected to flip from red to blue-leaning districts.
The new maps largely do not change legislative districts in the city of Milwaukee, but there are several shifts in the suburbs, particularly in Brookfield.
For the past few years, the 13th Assembly District leaned red in favor of Republicans, but the new maps essentially split Brookfield in half, painting the northeastern side of the city a shade of blue.
Based on 2022 election results, the 13th District flips from a 57.5 percent Republican lean to 57.5 percent Democratic. Some Democrats in Brookfield are praising the change.
"If I have to make a choice between Brookfield being split and having fair maps, I'm going to go with the fair maps,” said Marj Kozlowski.
Some conservative voters say they couldn’t be more frustrated.
"It’s an extremely bad thing,” “said Kathy Gawryleski. I just don't like that once you split these districts up, we're pitting Republican candidates against Republican candidates in a lot of situations."
UW-Milwaukee professor Matt Petering has been studying Wisconsin’s legislative maps and their fairness for the better part of a decade.
"There's no doubt the eastern half of Brookfield is more blue than the western half of Brookfield,” Petering said.
He says the biggest Assembly district change in the Milwaukee area is in half of Brookfield due to a 15 percent shift in party preference. But he thinks the new maps are more reflective of recent results at the polls.
"Democrats have been gaining ground in the Milwaukee suburbs and if we would draw let's say very nice district shapes in those suburbs, that would reflect Democrats gains,” he said.
Petering says the new legislative maps as a whole will be competitive for the first time since the early 2000s. Currently, Republicans hold a 64 to 35 majority in the Wisconsin Assembly and 2/3rds of the seats in the state Senate. Both chambers are expected to be closer to 50-50.
"I believe both chambers will be up for grabs,” he said. “In my view, the Democrats have about a one in three chance of getting a majority in the Assembly and a one in three of getting a majority in the Senate going forward, but the Republicans still have a little bit of an edge."
Petering predicts majority control of the Assembly and the Senate could be won by as little as one seat, meaning far more districts will play a role in deciding whether Democratic or Republican policies move forward soon.
“What does it mean for voters who live in the northeastern half of Brookfield?” TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan asked.
“You're going to have representation that probably reflects more the changes happening in that area,” he said. The suburbs are turning a little more blue in recent years and I think that's just something that you would expect that a few districts will go more blue in that area."
Petering says the other big change in the Milwaukee suburbs is Oak Creek’s assembly district. It is expected to slightly lean blue rather than red come November.
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