The map Gov. Evers’ submitted to the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court moves Republican incumbent Pat Snyder out of Wausau by a couple houses and splits Schofield, a nearby community of only about 2,100 people.
That’s even though redistricting maps, per the state Constitution, are supposed to keep municipal boundaries intact. It’s an obvious attempt to turn Wausau blue, even as Evers’ falsely tells the media his maps are non-partisan. It’s also a case in point that reveals how partisan his maps really are. Take a look at Snyder and the Wausau district under Evers’ proposed map:
Take a look at it now:
The machinations with Snyder and Wausau come as news breaks that the Wisconsin State Senate is poised to make a major move on the maps today. Technically the Senate has moved a proposed Iowa model to the floor for a vote Tuesday. However, we are hearing that there is a surprise twist afloat. A prominent state Senator, Dan Knodl, told Wisconsin Right Now Monday that Tuesday’s action could resolve the maps issue, which is currently languishing before the liberal Supreme Court court. That should all unfold at 3 p.m., and it’s very fragile and fluid.
In the past, some in the state Senate have balked at finding a solution short of the liberal court deciding the legislative lines. We thought it instructive to remind people going into this afternoon how bad Evers’ maps really would be for Republicans.
And Pat Snyder and Wausau are a case in point. It’s happening all over the state; Republicans are pitted against Republicans, swing districts are turned bluer, and Republicans are stripped of the power of incumbency. In the Milwaukee metropolitan area, Evers’ maps would do a similar maneuver to the only black Republican in state Senate history, peeling him out of his district and into a new one, and essentially forcing him out of the Legislature for at least two years.
Snyder, a former Schofield alderman and Congressional staffer elected to the Assembly in 2016, noted, “I’m an eight-year incumbent.” Although it’s always hard to win the City of Wausau as a Republican, he’s made strong inroads there over the years.
“They cut up Schofield. Never in the history of Wisconsin has it been carved out,” he said. “They complained of us gerrymandering the state, but this whole effort is to turn us into Illinois. Everything they accused Republicans of, they are doing.”
He said Evers’ map would “bring up a lot of voter confusion statewide.”
“They can’t beat you by policy issues, so they have to try to rearrange that to take away the incumbency to make it an open seat,” Snyder said. “That’s a shame. They couldn’t beat me in four tries here. I think this is a way to try to do that. I just can’t believe they cut into Schofield and drew me out. It’s incredible. I am only a few blocks away from where they drew the line.”
Evers’ maps are among seven submitted to the court. In almost all of them, Democrats would seize control of the state Legislature, contrary to misleading reporting in the media. Two consultants are reviewing them all and were poised to announce their recommendations to the court on Feb. 1. What’s happening in the Legislature today could avert that.
Remember that the court gave the Legislature one last chance to wheel and deal with Evers; the state Constitution gives the Legislature authority to redistrict.
In an interview last week with Wisconsin Right Now, Snyder noted that Evers’ map makes the 85th district encompassing Wausau into basically a “50-50 seat.”
But the map then pulls Snyder out of it and into a new district, removing a popular incumbent who has managed to hold his own in that community.
“For the most part, I’ve had good response at the doors,” Snyder said of the reaction to him in Wausau. “Most people in Wausau like me.” He said he’s worked hard to develop constituent relationships in the city, which would be disrupted by the Evers’ map, which makes Wausau an “open seat.”
“They split Schofield,” Snyder added, noting that “I thought they weren’t supposed to carve up municipalities.”
The new map would stick him in a Republican tilting rural area. While that wouldn’t oust him from the Legislature, it games Wausau to set up the seat for a Democrat to win, considering there would no longer be an incumbent.
Snyder noted that the way the Evers’ map deals with Wausau “contradicts what he was saying back even a year ago when we were redoing the other maps.”
He reiterated that Democrats “can’t win by policy. They have to win by rearranging things to gain power rather than come to the people with their policies.”
According to Snyder, Republicans didn’t let the Iowa model alternative out of committee in October because “we were told it wasn’t affecting the Senate this time because they wouldn’t bother with it. It drives me up a wall.”
However, as noted, that appears to be changing at 3 p.m. today.
