Wisconsin GOP vows to appeal anti-gerrymandering decision to the U.S. Supreme Court

A major bombshell in midwestern politics came on Friday when the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down, in a 4-3 ruling, a GOP-drawn legislative map that Democrats considered an example of gerrymandering on steroids.

Republicans are furious over the decision, threatening to appeal the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

CBS News' Alison Novello, in an article published on New Year's Day, explains, "Despite the state's history of winning elections on the margins, Republicans dominate the state legislature, with 64 Republicans and 35 Democrats in the Wisconsin Assembly. The groundbreaking ruling in late December by the Wisconsin Supreme Court throwing out the GOP-drawn district lines could threaten that control — and change the state's political landscape."

But Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the U.S. Supreme Court will have "the last word" on the case.

Vos vowed, "We will pursue all federal issues arising out of the redistricting litigation at the U.S. Supreme Court."

Meanwhile, Nicole Safar, executive director at Law Forward — the group that filed the lawsuit on behalf of Wisconsin Democrats — is applauding the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling.

Safar told CBS News, "I think in the next legislative session in 2025 and 2026, we will see a different kind of ability for the citizens to impact the policies that our legislature makes. We'll see real organizing, lobbying and campaigning around things like access to abortion, gun safety and public education."

READ MORE: 'America's worst gerrymander' officially overturned by Wisconsin Supreme Court

One of the justices who voted to strike down the GOP-drawn legislative maps was Janet Protasiewicz, who won a Wisconsin Supreme Court race in April.

Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is cheering the decision as well, telling CBS News, "It's clear to me that a Republican-controlled Legislature that has consistently gerrymandered itself into comfortable, partisan majorities for more than a decade is incapable of preparing fair, nonpartisan maps deserving of the people of this state.

“I agree with the Court's determination that these maps are unconstitutional because the districts lack contiguity. Wisconsin is a purple state, and I look forward to submitting maps to the Court to consider and review that reflect and represent the makeup of our state. And I remain as optimistic as ever that, at long last, the gerrymandered maps Wisconsinites have endured for years might soon be history."

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