posted by Mike McCabe @ 11:20 AM

Even before the smoking guns were found, it was obvious that Wisconsin Republicans took full advantage of the redistricting process last year and drew new district maps designed to tilt the electoral scales in their favor.

The biggest losers, however, are not the Democrats. That distinction belongs to the voters.

This becomes clear when you look at the votes by legislative district in the 2008 election for president and the 2010 election for governor – one a strong Democratic year, the other a big year for Republicans.

Based on voting patterns from those two years, only four of the 33 new senate districts are purple; that is, true battlegrounds where elections could go either way. Nine are either light red or blue, meaning they either clearly lean Republican or show a tendency to favor the Democrats. The other 20 are bright red or vivid blue. Solidly Republican or solidly Democratic.

Of the 99 districts in the Assembly, the 2008 and 2010 election results show that 12 of the new districts qualify as toss ups. Another 21 lean Republican or lean Democratic, with 17 of the leaners on the Republican side compared to just four for the Democrats. The remaining 66 assembly districts are solid for one party or the other.

There are 33 districts (28 assembly and five senate) where there is a major-party candidate who will go unchallenged in the November election. Voters literally won’t have a choice and the outcomes of those elections are obviously foregone conclusions. But in the vast majority of the other districts, the choice voters will have looks to be an empty one, especially when you look at how the financial competitiveness of the races are shaping up in addition to the effects of redistricting.

There are only five races (four assembly and one senate) where the worst-funded candidate has at least 70% of what the best-funded candidate in the race has. Interestingly, only one of the races where there are competitive cash balances at this point in the election season is in a district that qualifies as a toss-up based on 2008 and 2010 election outcomes. That’s in central Wisconsin’s 72nd Assembly District, where the incumbent Republican legislator has about a $5,000 fundraising edge over his Democratic challenger so far.

The assembly’s 37th district is an open seat and both parties’ candidates have about the same amount of money so far, with about a $500 edge to the Democrat. But based on the 2008 presidential election and the 2010 election for governor, the 37th rates as a solidly Republican district. The 43rd district race pits two incumbents who were drawn into the same district under the new maps. The Republican has raised close to $11,000 more so far than the Democrat, but the district went for Obama for president in 2008 and Tom Barrett for governor in 2010. The 86th district is an open seat that clearly leans Republican.

The only senate race that is close financially so far is in the 18th district surrounding the southern part of Lake Winnebago where the Democrat has raised more than $80,000 so far, with her Republican opponent collecting about three-quarters of that amount. The 18th leans Republican, however, going for Obama by a whisker in 2008 but Walker by a wide margin in 2010.

When you look at both how the districts are drawn and how the money is stacking up, there are precious few races that look to be competitive this fall. The combined effect of redistricting and fundraising makes voters virtually powerless in almost all districts.

Not a pretty picture. And not the way democracy is supposed to work.

That’s because dozens of local, state and federal political districts in Michigan are not competitive – and they were drawn that way on purpose by political parties to keep themselves in power. In 96 out of 110 state House districts Tuesday, the partisan outcome was so clear that the other party fielded only one “contender,” likely to be little more than the name on a ballot in November with virtually no chance of winning.

“Now that the primary is over, thousands of Michiganders have cast their last relevant vote for 2012 for the Michigan Legislature,” said Kyle Caldwell, president and CEO of the Michigan Nonprofit Association. “For them, the outcomes of the general elections have been predetermined through redistricting that created safe, uncompetitive seats. That’s not how a model Republic based on core democratic values should work.”

According to a 2011 report by the Center for Michigan, only one in seven Michiganders live in a reliably competitive district; and in November 2010 alone, more than 1.4 million votes were cast for legislative candidates who had no realistic shot at winning.

“The result is that many lawmakers run far to the right or to the left of the center of their constituencies,” said John Bebow, president of the Center for Michigan. “That makes it difficult to compromise and come to a middle ground on the key issues facing our state – creating gridlock on issues from school improvement to infrastructure development.”

The Michigan Redistricting Collaborative — which consists of the MNA, the Center for Michigan, the League of Women Voters of Michigan and several other organizations dedicated to making redistricting more open and transparent – is calling on the Michigan Legislature to review redistricting in Michigan so a better, less partisan process can be put in place for the next redistricting in 2021.

“As of now, the redistricting process in Michigan is structured for politicians to pick their constituents, rather than the other way around,” said Caldwell. “That’s clearly a conflict of interest – and it’s the voters who are losing out. Where are the real choices?  There’s a good reason to change the system now: today’s elected officials can do the right thing as they will not be in control of the Legislature in 2020, but waiting until then will be too late.”

Learn more about the MRC and redistricting in Michigan at drawthelinemichigan.org.

By Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel

MARY SPICUZZA and CLAY BARBOUR | Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin’s Republican legislative leaders have said the voting district maps they drew last year were not aimed at political advantage, but new documents made public Tuesday show they discussed ways to increase the number of “safe” and “leaning” GOP districts and to protect conservative incumbents.

In one email, state Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, offered these thoughts about redrawing her district: “Western Wauwatosa — yes (more GOP),” “West Milwaukee — No (forgot to mention this part of current district — VERY Dem” and “Milwaukee — cop wards if needed.”

She also wrote in the May 4, 2011, message to Tad Ottman, an aide to then-Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, “This is such a big task. So glad we are in control!”

Ottman worked on the redistricting plan out of the office of law firm Michael Best & Friedrich, which helped write the plan.

Vukmir could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

One document released Tuesday detailed how many districts would be safe for Republicans, GOP-leaning, swing districts, safe Democratic, or lean Democratic under at least one version of the redistricting plan. It showed a dramatic increase in likely GOP seats, but Ottman said that chart did not represent the final breakdown.

Another chart shows a breakdown of the last 10 years of Wisconsin elections, and which districts went to Democrats or Republicans.

Ottman confirmed he prepared the charts.

The documents were among hundreds turned over to new Senate Majority Leader Mark Miller, D-Monona, by Michael Best & Friedrich, hired by Republicans when they controlled the state Senate. The law firm turned over its redistricting file to Miller on Friday, and his office shared it with reporters Tuesday.

Republican lawmakers had faced heavy criticism from Democrats for working in secret with the firm, which was paid $431,000 in taxpayer money for its work, to create new boundaries last year. The boundaries will be in effect for the Aug. 14 legislative primary.

Fitzgerald said political advantage was not the goal of the redistricting process.

“My criteria was creating maps that met all of the federal requirements and I could get the votes for,” he said. “I have never said there was not a consideration given for incumbents.”

And state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said potential benefit to the GOP was not the main criteria.

“The three main factors were equal population, compact and contiguous, and maximum minority representation,” he said.

Vos, who is also co-chairman of the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee added that GOP leaders always acknowledged the new maps might help the GOP.

“People will naturally choose the one that will give them an advantage at the ballot box. A little bit. Marginally,” he said.

But Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said the documents show Republicans were lying to the public.

“To me, it’s sort-of the smoking gun that shows that all of their efforts were political, partisan and about protecting their power,” Barca said. “It shows their deceitfulness. They consistently maintained this was not about politics.”

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/new-senate-leader-seeks-redistricting-files-d165unr-162910676.html

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/van-hollen-drops-appeal-in-redistricting-case-s85qev3-159418985.html

Madison - State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen reversed course Monday by dropping an appeal of a decision on legislative boundaries and agreeing to pay the plaintiffs more than $185,000 in taxpayer money.

Just over two months ago, the Republican attorney general insisted the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was essential and said he would be personally involved in overseeing it. But on Monday, he gave up on trying to have the nation’s highest court overturn a decision that set different boundaries for two Assembly districts than what legislators who initially drew the lines wanted.

Under the deal filed in court Monday, the state will drop its appeal and pay $185,500 to immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera, who sued the state over the maps. The group prevailed in March before a panel of three federal judges in its arguments that newly drawn boundaries for Assembly Districts 8 and 9 on Milwaukee’s south side violated the federal Voting Rights Act.

The payment will bring taxpayer costs for the maps to over $1.5 million, and that number could yet climb.

The settlement does not apply to a separate group that sued over the maps. That group of Democrats sued over a host of issues, but lost on everything but the boundaries of the 8th and 9th Assembly Districts. That group has not ruled out the possibility of an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the two sides disagree as to whether they would even have an opportunity to do that.

Every 10 years, states must draw new legislative and congressional districts to account for changes in population detected by the U.S. Census Bureau. Those new maps often cause political and legal fights because the results determine which party has an upper hand in elections for a decade.

Republicans controlled all of Wisconsin’s state government last year, and they drew maps that helped them. The group of Democrats sued before the maps were even unveiled, and when Voces later sued the two cases were combined.

The case went before three federal judges in Milwaukee, two appointed by Republican presidents and one appointed by a Democratic president. They unanimously ruled the Assembly maps on Milwaukee’s south side violated the voting rights of Latinos by dispersing them into two districts rather than concentrating them in one.

The court then approved new lines for the districts drawn by Voces and the Democrats.

The panel of judges, however, ruled against arguments by the Democrats that Republicans had unnecessarily moved too many voters around the state from one district to another.

When the panel issued its March ruling, the Republican attorney general described it as a victory for the state, saying the maps lawmakers drew “have largely been vindicated.” But a month later he announced he was appealing the decision because having the court redraw part of the maps was “a serious matter.”

“I believe, and the reason I have appealed is, that the judiciary overstepped their bounds,” he said in April.

But on Monday, Van Hollen spokeswoman Dana Brueck said other issues were at play as well.

“Attorney General Van Hollen had said that any time a federal court rejects a state redistricting statute, and decides to redraw or adjust a legislative district, it is a serious matter and appropriate for appellate review,” she said in a statement. “That principle was, and is, important. But there are other principles that also are important, such as limiting the state’s financial exposure and making sure that elections in November and afterward are not carried out under a cloud of uncertainty.”

Senate Democratic Leader Mark Miller of Monona said he was pleased Van Hollen was dropping the appeal because it would have been costly, but that he remains disappointed about how Republicans handled redistricting.

“I’m glad the attorney general is going to stop wasting more taxpayer money trying to defend the illegal, gerrymandered maps developed in secret,” Miller said in a statement. “It is outrageous that over $1.5 million was spent on redistricting when Republicans controlled both houses of the Legislature.”

The $185,500 being paid to Voces comes on top of other costs to taxpayers. Republican lawmakers have committed $400,000 in taxpayer money to Michael Best & Friedrich and the Troupis Law Office for their work in helping draw the lines. Separately, Gov. Scott Walker hired Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren to assist Van Hollen with the litigation, and that firm was paid $925,000 for that work.

The other group that sued is also seeking more than $475,000 in attorney fees and costs.

Brueck argued the parts of the case the state won can no longer be appealed because the period for appeal has passed. But Doug Poland, an attorney for the group of Democrats, disputed that, saying the three-judge panel has not yet issued its final judgment and that Van Hollen in April had prematurely filed its notice of appeal. The group has not decided whether to take the parts of the case it lost to the U.S. Supreme Court, he said.

“At this point, all options are on the table,” Poland said.

He said Van Hollen’s action on Monday highlights the error Republicans made in drawing the maps as they did.

“I think that their decision to withdraw certainly vindicates the filing of the lawsuit in the first place,” Poland said. “The Legislature violated the federal civil rights law and again the taxpayers had to pick up the cost for that process.”

The court document filed Monday said the state is dropping its appeal with prejudice, meaning it cannot re-file it.

Federal redistricting cases are unusual in that they are heard initially by a three-judge panel. Appeals go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the high court is required to take the cases.

Madison – Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said Friday he did not know whether he would use special counsel to assist him with an appeal over election maps to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The state used Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren to assist Van Hollen with the case before a panel of three federal judges. The firm’s contract is for up to $925,000.

The panel found two of the state’s 99 Assembly districts violated the federal Voting Rights Act in March, and approved a revised version of those maps earlier this month. Van Hollen appealed the decision Thursday to the U.S. Supreme Court.

But he said Friday no decision has been made on using special counsel. Gov. Scott Walker makes the sole call on whether to appoint outside attorneys, and Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie also said no decision had been made.

Van Hollen touted the March ruling because the court found problems with just one line after reviewing all the congressional and legislative maps Republicans in the Legislature approved last year. But he said Friday an appeal was warranted.

“It is my belief that despite the fact we won an overwhelming victory in court with regards to redistricting that it is not the appropriate role of the judiciary in this case to tell the Legislature that they had to redraw the lines even in two districts,” he said. “So for me, it wasn’t so much the victory or loss, it’s making sure that in the future we have accurate case law indicating what the Legislature does have the power to do and what the judiciary can do to change or take away those powers. I believe, and the reason I have appealed is, that the judiciary overstepped their bounds.”

Democrats have been critical of the Republican attorney general because of the potential costs of taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Van Hollen, who said he would be “personally active” in the case, said he expected the appeal’s cost to be minimal.

Every 10 years, states have to redraw congressional and legislative districts to account for population shifts recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau. Republicans in Wisconsin controlled state government last year and drew lines that benefited their party.

A group of Democrats and the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera brought the suit over the lines, which started even before Republican lawmakers made their maps public.

Because Van Hollen is appealing the case, the plaintiffs will be able to argue to the Supreme Court that other maps are also flawed. But Van Hollen said he was not worried the high court would strike down maps of other districts that lawmakers approved.

“I don’t believe that anything will turn back what we have succeeded in winning,” Van Hollen said. “I believe the victory can get nothing but stronger in the Supreme Court.”

Peter Earle, the attorney for Voces, said Thursday he was surprised by the appeal, calling it a political move by Van Hollen.

“I think this appeal is a laughable, partisan stunt,” Earle said. “This is a high-priced folly.”

Federal redistricting cases are unusual in that they are heard initially by a three-judge panel. Appeals go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the high court is required to take the cases.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/148302795.html

The program will feature presentations on the 2011 redistricting process and approaches used by other states, followed by a facilitated discussion about ideas for reform. The featured speaker is Christina Kuo, senior director of public policy and public affairs for the Michigan Nonprofit Association.

This event is the latest in a series of discussions hosted by local Leagues around the state to examine the different ways that states draw political districts and how voters’ interests are affected.

Where:

Bloomfield Township Library
1099 Lone Pine Road
Bloomfield Township, Mich. 48302

When:

Saturday, April 21
10 a.m. to noon

Who:

Event sponsored by the League of Women Voters Oakland Area
For more information, call Mary Ann Barkach at (248) 474-2353

April 11, 2012

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/federal-judges-redraw-two-south-side-legislative-districts-d44vcef-147061375.html

Federal judges on Wednesday redrew the lines of two south side legislative districts in favor of Democrats and an immigrant rights group.

In doing so, the three-member panel rejected arguments by the state on behalf of the maps drawn by Republican lawmakers last year. Last month the panel ruled that the maps for Assembly Districts 8 and 9 violated the voting rights of Latinos.

The lawsuit against the state was brought by a group of Democrats and the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera.

They said GOP legislators had violated the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting power of Latinos by dividing them into two Assembly districts instead of concentrating them into one where they would have the most influence in an election.

The judges stepped in to draw the maps after the state and the plaintiffs failed to reach an agreement on how to redraw the maps to respond to last month’s ruling.

“Republicans once again refused to work with others, instead submitting their own maps, which were rejected by the court,” Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) said.

Dana Brueck, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Justice, said the agency expected to decide on whether to appeal the case by the end of the week or early next week.

“We’re disappointed one of our maps wasn’t chosen but not surprised,” Brueck said. ” . . . we’re leaning toward an appeal.”

Senate Republican Leader Scott Fitzgerald said in a statement that the court “has reaffirmed that the Legislature correctly apportioned 130 out of 132 Legislative districts as well as all eight congressional districts.”

In its earlier ruling, the court largely upheld the maps that Republican lawmakers had drawn, though the court criticized lawmakers for the secretive process they used to draw them, saying it was not in keeping with Wisconsin’s history of open government.

The judicial panel also rejected on Wednesday a request by the City of Milwaukee to fix technical errors with the maps that had created a five-person ward and a one-person ward in neighboring Assembly District 7. The court said those errors would need to be addressed either with the state elections agency, the Government Accountability Board, or in a separate court action.