Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) signed new legislative maps into law for Wisconsin on Monday after more Republicans than Democrats in the legislature voted in favor of them.
The maps, which Evers proposed, were drawn up after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the current ones, which were enacted by Republicans. Evers said the new maps reflect the “basic fact” that Wisconsin is a “purple state.”
“Today is a victory not for me or any political party but for our state and for the people of Wisconsin who’ve spent a decade demanding more and demanding better of us as elected officials,” Evers said in a statement.
“I believe, as I’ve often said, that the people should get to choose their elected officials, not the other way around. And under the maps I’m signing today, I am making good on that promise. It is a new day in Wisconsin, and today is a beautiful day for democracy,” he added.
Under the current maps, Republicans have a 22-10 majority in the state Senate and a 64-35 majority in the state Assembly. The new map will be more evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, according to an analysis by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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Republicans passed the new map favored by the Democratic governor instead of risking the Democratic-leaning high court picking a map less favorable to the GOP.
“Republicans were not stuck between a rock and [a] hard place,” state Sen. Van Wanggaard said in a statement. “It was a matter of choosing to be stabbed, shot, poisoned or led to the guillotine. We chose to be stabbed, so we can live to fight another day.”
