Wisconsin Right Now

Wisconsin redistricting maps "consultant," praised b y Gov. Tony Evers as a "neutral expert" trashed former President Donald Trump and Republican leaders as liars and conspiracy theorists in an interview with a blogger in 2021. The post appeared on a liberal blog called "Down With Tyranny." Grofman's quotes are in an article by Howie Klein that is titled, "Do More Trumpists Behave That Way Because They Can't Get Laid-- Or Because They're Racists?" https://twitter.com/wisconsin_now/status/1753287678324306052 In addition, Grofman's X page contains a single post - an op-ed that he wrote for the Washington Post. "My op-ed telling the Dems to divide and conquer by splitting their huge spending bill into pieces just came out in the Washington Post Monkey Cage," he wrote. The column advises President Joe Biden and Democrats how to "bypass" a Republican filibuster. https://twitter.com/BGrofman/status/14441...

Bernard Grofman and Jonathan Cervas inserted a bizarre confidentiality clause into their report that is raising questions. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty is calling on the Wisconsin Supreme Court to disclose whether any justices had improper, secret side conversations with the two hired-gun consultants chosen by the court's liberals to review the legislative redistricting maps. Wisconsin Right Now previously reported that the consultants, Bernard Grofman and Jonathan Cervas, suddenly inserted a confidentiality clause into their report on the maps. Bizarrely, the clause did not appear in their original contracts with the court, which could net them each up to $100,000, courtesy of Wisconsin taxpayers, for a couple weeks work. The two consultants are professors from California and Pennsylvania. The confidentiality clause stood out because it seemed out of place in the map report - and because judges are not supposed to have what are technically called "e...

The two hired gun consultants handpicked by the liberal justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court have agreed to keep "communications with members of the state Supreme Court" secret from the public that is paying their hefty fees. The two consultants, Professors Bernard Grofman and Jonathan Cervas, are being paid up to $100,000 each to generate a report on redistricting maps. Not surprisingly, the consultants turned in a report on Feb. 1 that recommended ignoring all of the conservative maps and pushing the four Democratic maps. They admitted in the report that one of the conservative maps, by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, did best or well on the constitutionally mandated redistricting criteria. The consultants then disregarded that for a "social science" model they created, following a new and ill-defined "partisan impact" criterion invented by the liberals on the court, essentially arguing that the best maps shouldn't be considere...

The two consultants hired by the liberal justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court are ruling out both conservative-drawn maps because the liberal-drawn maps they are recommending give Democrats a better chance at controlling the State Legislature. To reach this conclusion, they blatantly disregarded the fact one of the conservative maps performs best on constitutionally mandated redistricting criteria in favor of a nebulously defined "partisan impact" test manufactured by the liberals. Not surprisingly, the two professors, one hailing from California, have suggested that any of the Democratic maps would be great, including one by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. Their report could cost taxpayers up to $200,000. In other words, the professors openly say the conservative maps should be tossed out because they don't give Democrats enough of a chance to win control of the Legislature - which is not a criterion listed in the state Constitution. They admit that the conserv...

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the legislative redistricting maps that he mostly drew. Evers on Tuesday said he scuttled the 99% maps because they were too favorable to Republicans. “These maps are more the same. Republicans passed maps to help make sure Republican-gerrymandered incumbents get to keep their seats. Folks, that's just more gerrymandering,” Evers said. “Allowing politicians to move district lines so that their party can retain political power doesn't help root out gerrymandering from our democracy, it further entrenches it. And that's wrong.” The maps the governor drew moved dozens of incumbent Republicans into new districts. Republicans moved some of those lawmakers back but largely left the governor’s maps unchanged. Evers has denied he gerrymandered Wisconsin with his maps that would give Democrats control over the state legislature. Instead, he calls them fair maps. “I have never been more hopeful that when Wisconsinites head to the ballot box...

If the liberal justices are serious about "fair maps," they will pick WILL's, data analysis shows. Forget Gov. Tony Evers' maps. Forget the Republican Legislature's. If the liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court is really serious about "fairness" in how legislative districts are drawn, the justices will pick the maps submitted by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. Data generated by the respected Dave's Redistricting mapping software shows that the legislative maps drawn by WILL are most successful in meeting the various criteria mandated by the state Supreme Court. By far. On population deviation, competitiveness, and splitting, WILL's maps squarely outperform Evers' in fairness (we will define the terms later in this story; just know they are considered important by the court). In compactness, WILL's and Evers' maps are similar but WILL's are better than all of the other maps. WILL outperforms the oth...

The map Gov. Evers' submitted to the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court moves Republican incumbent Pat Snyder out of Wausau by a couple houses and splits Schofield, a nearby community of only about 2,100 people. That's even though redistricting maps, per the state Constitution, are supposed to keep municipal boundaries intact. It's an obvious attempt to turn Wausau blue, even as Evers' falsely tells the media his maps are non-partisan. It's also a case in point that reveals how partisan his maps really are. Take a look at Snyder and the Wausau district under Evers' proposed map: Take a look at it now: The machinations with Snyder and Wausau come as news breaks that the Wisconsin State Senate is poised to make a major move on the maps today. Technically the Senate has moved a proposed Iowa model to the floor for a vote Tuesday. However, we are hearing that there is a surprise twist afloat. A prominent state Senator, Dan Knodl, told Wisconsin Ri...

The media are misleading the public. And we can prove it. Democrats would seize control of the Wisconsin Legislature under almost all of the redistricting maps submitted to the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court. 8 of the 10 Democratic-leaning maps submitted to the Court would flip control of the state Legislature to Democrats using a composite of election data from 2016 to 2022. That includes Gov. Tony Evers' maps, which he submitted with assistance from AG Josh Kaul. 10 of the 10 Democratic-leaning maps flip control to the Democrats if you use only the 2022 governor's race instead to determine the electorate's partisan makeup. Yet the media, including the Associated Press, have misled Wisconsin voters into believing that most of the maps keep Republicans in control. Example: This is misleading. Bauer's article, which was republished all over the state, is based on a single research fellow's unique and arguably problematic statistical model. In...

Six of Wisconsin’s eight members of Congress are Republican. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is now being asked to overturn the Wisconsin congressional maps after asking for new legislative maps. The Elias Law Group , headed by lawyer Mark Elias, asked the state’s high court to redraw the maps. Elias has ties to the Hillary Clinton campaign network and has filed several election-related lawsuits across the country. “Wisconsin’s current congressional map was drawn according to a 'least change' principle that perpetuated and exacerbated the partisan unfairness that has robbed Wisconsin voters of fair congressional districts for over a decade,” Elias Law Group partner Abha Khanna said in a statement. The “least change” principle kept Wisconsin’s maps largely unchanged in 2021, and once again gave Republicans in the state a majority. Six of Wisconsin’s eight members of Congress are Republican. Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming said the lawsuit isn’...

Evers' maps attempt to roll back racial progress in the Wisconsin Legislature. Gov. Tony Evers' new partisan legislative redistricting map targets one of only two Black Republican legislators in Wisconsin history, state Sen. Julian Bradley, by forcing him out of the state Legislature for at least two years. That's according to Wisconsin Right Now's review of Evers' map, which he submitted to the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court on Friday. We have been writing a series of articles exposing the impact of Evers' map; the governor has falsely told the public that his maps are "fair" and non-partisan. [caption id="attachment_160091" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Julian Bradley.[/caption] "My very existence frustrates their narrative," Bradley told Wisconsin Right Now. He is one of the strongest advocates for public safety in the Wisconsin Legislature. Bradley was previously named the Milwaukee Poli...

Democrats and Gov. Tony Evers "are trying to minimize the power of the Republican conservative vote," - state Rep. John Macco, a Republican, on the new maps proposals.   In a ruthless partisan power play, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who falsely promised to submit "fair maps," has pitted two popular Republican incumbents - Shae Sortwell and John Macco - together in a newly drawn district in the Fox Valley and Manitowoc County area. Sortwell confirmed WRN's analysis, saying that it "appears to be the case in both the Evers' map and the Democratic Senate map" that he is paired with Macco, a fellow Republican. We also confirmed their addresses with Sortwell and Macco. Current Map of District 2 (Sortwell) and District 88 (Macco)   Gov. Evers Proposed Map of District 2 Sortwell said the pairing, if Evers' maps are chosen by the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court, would leave Macco and Sortwell with terrible options. They...

"They strategically took people out that they think are a concern to them," state Sen. Duey Stroebel, a Republican, told Wisconsin Right Now in an exclusive interview of Evers' latest legislative redistricting maps, which pit him against another Republican incumbent, state Sen. Dan Knodl. In a "complete political power play" designed to help Democrats win back a key swing state Senate district that they lost just months ago, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' new legislative maps pit two veteran Republican incumbents against each other - GOP Senators Dan Knodl and Duey Stroebel. Yet Evers has lied to the public that the maps are "fair" and non-partisan. In yet another partisan move in a process that is supposed to deliver fair maps to Wisconsinites, Evers also stripped away the most Republican areas from Knodl's hotly contested swing district near Milwaukee, turning the area more blue, Knodl told Wisconsin Right Now. It's an obvious effo...