The Wisconsin Supreme Court, controlled by a liberal majority, has sent two redistricting lawsuits to three-judge panels for review. (Reuters/Vincent Alban)
WILL's motions dispute the plaintiffs’ characterizations of Wisconsin’s congressional map as a "partisan gerrymander" or "anti-competitive."
DOJ BACKS TEXAS IN SUPREME COURT FIGHT OVER REPUBLICAN-DRAWN MAP
"These claims are all meritless," Vebber said, noting first that any challenge to the current map should have been brought when the map was adopted. "And on the merits, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has already determined that partisan gerrymandering is not a justiciable claim here in Wisconsin."
Vebber said the lawsuits violate federal law by pushing for districts drawn to reflect statewide partisan totals instead of local representation, and by asking courts to assume a redistricting role the Constitution assigns to state legislatures.
He also argued that a court-ordered "mid-decade redraw" would violate the elections clause of the U.S. Constitution, calling it "precisely what the U.S. Supreme Court has advised state courts not to do."
According to WILL, these motions represent the fourth and fifth time the conservative law firm has defended Wisconsin’s congressional maps in court.
When the Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted the state’s current congressional map drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in 2022 following the 2020 census, WILL said that should have been "the end to the legal and political posturing until the 2030 census."
Instead, the group said various organizations have repeatedly attempted to challenge the map using "a variety of legal theories."
As redistricting battles continue nationwide, Texas recently filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court after a panel of federal judges blocked the state from using its new congressional map, ruling that several districts were "racially gerrymandered."
Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Susan Crawford waves during her election night party after winning the high-stakes election on April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
Meanwhile, California voters passed Proposition 50 this year, allowing the state to move forward with a new congressional map expected to create up to five Democratic-leaning districts, in what Democrats say is an effort to counter Republican-backed redistricting efforts in states like Texas.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Missouri and North Carolina have already redrawn congressional lines, and states like Ohio are moving ahead with new maps as redistricting battles play out in courts nationwide ahead of next year's midterm elections with control of the House and Senate, and Trump’s legislative agenda, hanging in the balance.
Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/conservatives-intervene-wisconsins-mid-decade-redistricting-push-house-majority-hangs-balance