Wisconsin high court to review congressional map suits

The Wisconsin Supreme Court set a May 29 deadline for the Wisconsin Elections Commission to respond to two lawsuits seeking to overturn the state’s congressional map before the 2026 elections.

The two cases — Felton v Wisconsin Elections Commission and Bothfield v Wisconsin Election Commission — call into question Wisconsin’s current congressional maps. The petitioners say the maps are unfair and do not equally apportion the state’s population among its eight congressional districts.

The court set a May 30 deadline for anyone else interested in the case to provide comment on whether the court should hear the lawsuits directly without first requiring them to addressed by lower courts first.

Justice Rebecca Grassl Bradley disagreed with the court’s decision. She said Justice-elect Susan Crawford participated in a donor call prior to winning the April Supreme Court election that billed the race as a chance to flip two Republican-held House seats in Wisconsin. She also pointed to Justice Janet Protasiewicz‘s 2023 campaign in which she railed against “rigged” legislative maps.

Bradley suggested at least some court members had already decided on the issues presented in the two lawsuits, arguing the court should deny both claims without requiring a response since the issue had been decided three years ago.

“Entertaining these claims makes a mockery of our justice system, degrades this court as an institution and perpetuates the public’s perception that justice is for sale in Wisconsin,” she wrote. “The gross politicization of this court over the last several years is destroying its integrity and will undermine the public’s acceptance of its decisions, if it hasn’t already.”