2 Wisconsin congressional redistricting lawsuits may not resolve by 2026 midterm election

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A pair of lawsuits seeking to redraw congressional boundary lines that currently favor Republicans in Wisconsin are on track to be resolved after the 2026 midterms, even as attorneys for one case argued Friday in court that there’s still time to enact new maps for the November election.

Court hearings in both cases came the day after Indiana Republicans soundly rejected President Donald Trump’s demand that they redraw congressional lines in that deep red state. Trump is waging a national redistricting battle as he tries to preserve a slim Republican majority in the House in next year’s elections.

An attorney for Democrats who brought one of the Wisconsin challenges argued for the panel to issue a ruling by around March 1, the deadline given by the state elections commission in order to have new maps in place.

“It’s absolutely possible,” Julie Zuckerbrod, an attorney with the liberal Elias Law Group, told a three-judge panel in support of the more aggressive timing.

But Dane County Circuit Judge Julie Genovese pushed back on the pressure to act quickly.

“We’ll decide them when we can decide them,” she said of the pending motions to issue a ruling or dismiss the case without further arguments.

Attorneys for Wisconsin’s six Republican congressmen and other conservative defendants pushed for a schedule that would not result in a trial until March 2027.

“Seeking relief in time for the 2026 election would be unfair,” said Kevin LeRoy, an attorney for the congressmen.

The three-judge panel in that case will first decide early next year whether to dismiss the case or rule in favor of those who brought it without further argument.

Both of the Wisconsin cases are before newly assigned three-judge panels, the first time that process has been used under a 2011 law enacted by Republicans. The dual hearings on Friday afternoon were two hours and two floors apart in the same courthouse, just blocks from the state Capitol.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court last month ordered that the redistricting cases be first heard by the three-judge panel over objections from Republicans.

Attorneys in the case brought by a bipartisan coalition of business leaders submitted a proposed schedule with a potential trial in March 2027. A different three-judge panel was to consider that request later Friday.

Any final rulings of those panels on the merits of the cases can be appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which is controlled 4-3 by liberal justices.

The Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy argues in its lawsuit that Wisconsin’s congressional maps are unconstitutional because they are an anti-competitive gerrymander. The lawsuit notes that the median margin of victory for candidates in the eight districts since the maps were enacted is close to 30 percentage points.

“In a 50-50 state, it makes no sense that 75% of Wisconsin seats in the House of Representatives are controlled by one party,” Law Forward said in a summary of its lawsuit on its website.

The other case, filed on behalf of Democratic voters, contends the current maps discriminate against Democrats. They do so by packing a substantial number of Democrats into two districts while breaking up other Democratic areas into six Republican-favorable districts.

In 2010, the year before Republicans redrew the congressional maps, Democrats held five seats compared with three for Republicans. Republicans hold six of the state’s eight U.S. House seats, but only two are considered competitive.

The current congressional maps, which were based on the ones drawn in 2010, were approved by the state Supreme Court when it was controlled by conservative judges. The U.S. Supreme Court in March 2022 declined to block them from taking effect.

A top target for Democrats is the western Wisconsin seat held by Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden. He won in 2022 after longtime Democratic Rep. Ron Kind retired. Van Orden won reelection in the 3rd District in 2024.

The other seat Democrats are hoping to make more competitive is southeastern Wisconsin’s 1st District, held by Republican Rep. Bryan Steil since 2019. The latest maps made that district more competitive while still favoring Republicans.