Category: State news

Quoted: Barry Burden, the director of University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Elections Research Center, said the Republican candidates’ focus on elections or Democratic incumbent Gov. Tony Evers’ push to show himself as a goalie fending off anti-democratic legislation could resonate, but the complicated nature of the issue might blunt the impact when compared to other matters that animate voters.

“Most of the public would say they think there were things that could be done to improve the election system and to tighten it up. That tends to be what you see in surveys. But, as I said, people were also contradictory,” Burden said. “They want voting to be easy, and they like getting ballots by mail … and I think the average member the public just hasn’t put all these pieces of the system together to think about how it all interacts.”

Noted: The new maps, drawn by the Wisconsin State Legislature, are considered the most partisan-biased, court-adopted maps in the nation. That’s according to a new analysis from the University of Wisconsin Law School. The maps heavily advantage Republican politicians, all but guaranteeing Republican-rule in the state Legislature, regardless of what most voters want.

The analysis looked at four metrics: partisan-bias, efficiency gap, mean-median difference and declination.

“On every one of these standard partisan fairness metrics, these new maps are the worst, court-adopted maps that we’ve seen anywhere in the country,” says Rob Yablon, an associate professor at the law school, who published the analysis.

Quoted: “Michels’ entry mostly signals a sense of discontent among Republicans with frontrunner Rebecca Kleefisch,” says University of Wisconsin political scientist Barry Burden. “She is the leader for the nomination in terms of traditional indicators such as fundraising, visibility, and conservative credentials. In an earlier political era, her connections to Scott Walker and success as a statewide candidate would have made her a no-brainer for the nomination. Many in the GOP are now pining for someone who will challenge the party establishment and take on other familiar institutions.”

Quoted: Robert Yablon, University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor and redistricting expert, said the court’s decision had reinforced a map that was “strikingly” gerrymandered.

“And it means that although this state is often a 50-50 state one where Democrats have frequently managed to win statewide races, they are going to have virtually no chance of taking control of the Legislature,” Yablon said in an interview with PBS Wisconsin.

Noted: University of Wisconsin Law School professor Robert Yablon unpacked the Voting Rights Act and how the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Wisconsin Supreme Court to approach its redistricting rulings.

Quoted: Essentially, the U.S. Supreme Court was saying that the Wisconsin Supreme Court didn’t properly show its work,” said Professor Robert Yablon, a redistricting expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.

But Yablon said the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling did not close the door on the governor’s plan if he can demonstrate to the Wisconsin Supreme Court that the additional majority-Black district was necessary.

“The U.S. Supreme Court said that the Wisconsin Supreme Court was free to consider additional evidence about the governor’s map,” Yablon said. “And I expect that they will try to more fully explain why the lines in the Milwaukee area should be drawn the way that they drew them.”

Quoted: Barry Burden, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor and director of the university’s Elections Research Center, said Vos’ statement will make it even more difficult to assuage concerns within his party over the 2020 election.

“To suggest that it was sort of endemic it was everywhere and substantial. That’s a big statement,” Burden said.

“Even if none of this other stuff had been happening, the investigations, or (Rep. Tim) Ramthun’s (decertification) efforts or anything else, but the speaker of the assembly to say there was widespread fraud in a statewide election is a real statement and a real change.”