Gov. Evers’ Maps Maliciously Pit Dozens of Republican Incumbents Against Each Other

“Do you expect me to relocate? To sell my house in three months time?” state Rep. John Macco, who was paired with a fellow Republican, Shae Sortwell, in Gov. Tony Evers’ Wisconsin legislative maps.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has argued that he submitted “fair” and non-partisan legislative maps to the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court on Friday. However, a Wisconsin Right Now investigation into Evers’ new maps proposal shows that the Democratic governor has maliciously paired dozens of Republican incumbents against each other in newly drawn maps.

In fact, Evers’ incumbent pairings put about 35 Republicans in peril of losing their jobs by putting them against each other, some of them incumbents who have represented their areas for years, building deep relationships with constituents that the governor’s maps brutally sever.

It’s all created complete chaos in the state’s electoral process.

Consider:

• In the state Assembly, approximately 30 incumbents are paired with other incumbents; that’s almost one-third of the legislative body. Of those, about 25 are Republican-against-Republican pairings. Only one of the rest is a Democrat-against-Democrat pairing.
• In the state Senate, approximately 13 incumbents are paired with other incumbents, again one-third. Of those, about 10 are Republican-against-Republican pairings. Only one of the rest is a Democrat-against-Democrat pairing, but it involves a Democrat running for another office anyway.
• We are working to confirm that Evers’ map pits THREE Republican incumbents against each other in the Fox Valley. One of the three affected legislators confirmed this information to us, but we are working to reach the other two for a story.
• Some Republican leaders are being targeted by pairing them with other Republicans. For example, the state Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August was shoved into a new district with state Rep. Amanda Nedweski, also a Republican. August has never represented most of the new district.
• Some pairings are occurring in vulnerable districts. For example, in the Milwaukee metropolitan area, Republican state Sen. Duey Stroebel has been pitted against Republican state Sen. Dan Knodl in a newly drawn district. Both men have been legislators for years. Just MONTHS ago, Knodl won a razor-thin special election for the 8th Senate District. Both men confirmed they have been paired in Evers’ map, and we confirmed their home addresses with them and checked them against the Evers map ourselves.
• To further disadvantage the Republicans, Evers and Democrats carved more Republican areas out of some of the paired legislators’ districts. For example, Knodl said areas that voted 70% Republican were carved out of his new district by Evers. Knodl said the new district “definitely slid more democratic,” and he noted that he “won the special election with less than a percentage. Now pulling that western area out, that is definitely a Democratic shift.”

Wisconsin Right Now is running a series of stories that will zoom in on different Republican incumbent pairings in Evers’ maps. They are happening all over the state. Although we focused on Evers’ maps, a preliminary review indicates other sets of maps appear to also pair large numbers of Republican incumbents.

The incumbent pairings set up the possibility of a series of contentious Republican primaries that will disadvantage Republican candidates in general elections against Democrats by forcing them to spend down their money. The only other options for the paired Republicans, if Evers’ maps are chosen, are: One has to quit or one has to move.

But that’s not an easy thing to do, especially in a poor real estate market and with such short notice.

“Do you expect me to relocate? To sell my house in three months time?” asked state Rep. John Macco, a Republican from DePere, who was tossed into a newly drawn district with fellow Republican incumbent, state Rep. Shae Sortwell of DePere. “It’s manipulative and intentional,” he said. He said he built his home and has lived there for 23 years.

As with Knodl and Stroebel, both Sortwell and Macco confirmed to WRN that they have been paired and confirmed their home addresses.

Sortwell has similar concerns.

Moving “would be a huge financial hit on my family,” said Sortwell, who is married with six kids, and is a homeowner. His family “lives a mile down the road.” Plus, the real estate market is not strong right now for purchasing another home.

The partisan nature of these pairings is further exposed by the fact that almost no Democratic incumbents are paired with each other.

“By putting me in with another incumbent where I have a small percentage of the new district, it makes it clear they are making it as difficult on me as possible,” August said, in an exclusive interview with Wisconsin Right Now. This story is being repeated all over the state.

Evers’ maps are one of seven sets of maps submitted to the court on Friday. Two sets are drawn by conservatives. See them all here. The court will ultimately pick. However, as the Democratic governor, Evers is going to have a lot of sway with a liberal-controlled court.

“They strategically took people out that they think are a concern to them,” Stroebel said of Evers’ maps.

“It’s completely a political power play to do these pairings,” said Knodl. “They (Democrats) are just so disingenuous and hypocritical. This is quite contrary to what they put out in public. It is a complete political power play to take Republicans out.”

This is happening from the Fox Valley to Metropolitan Milwaukee. There can be only one reason for pairing Republican incumbents with each other in this large of numbers; it’s an attempt to knock them out of public office for good, even though some of them have been elected by constituents for years. And it appears to have little, if anything, to do with the court’s claimed concern: Contiguity.

“They also strip both of my population centers, so I don’t have either Two Rivers or De Pere in the Evers’ maps,” Sortwell said. Two Rivers has been in the second Assembly district “for at least 40 years.” Sortwell said Evers also spun De Pere into a new district that Democrats will have a better chance of winning.

We’ve learned that many of the Republican incumbents are also finding themselves in newly drawn districts that include areas they have no ties to, upending areas that have been in districts for decades and stripping the elected representatives from voters that they have gotten to know.

The liberals on the court have already shown that they are willing to engage in raw power politics, which is not the role of the court. Even though the state Constitution gives the Legislature the power to redistrict, and the court already chose the Legislature’s maps after the US Supreme Court tossed a previous version of Evers’ for improperly using race, the liberals threw out the Legislature’s maps. They did so right after a new justice, Janet Protasiewicz, took office, propelled there by $10 million from the state Democratic Party and after prejudging the legislative maps as “rigged.”

The seven sets of maps, including Evers’ and four other Democratic-leaning sets, now go to two out-of-state unelected consultants handpicked by the liberals on the state Supreme Court. The consultants must forward their maps to the court by Feb. 1.

The court will then decide what maps will be in place for August primaries and November general elections, and going forward. Only some of the legislators will stand for election in this cycle, though. Republicans have announced intentions to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on a variety of federal questions, including Protasiewicz’s recusal and the lack of due process afforded the legislature due to the rushed timeline.