Ann Roe, the Democrat from Janesville running against U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil for his House seat, hailed the decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to rule in favor of redistricted election maps drawn up by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
“We got great news here in WI-01 yesterday!†a message using shorthand to refer to the district posted on RoeÃÛèÖÊÓÆµ Twitter account Friday said.
The tweet came a day after the courtÃÛèÖÊÓÆµ ruling, after which Roe followed up with a campaign statement suggesting the new map would help her in her race against current First District Rep. Bryan Steil, a Janesville Republican.
“We have a real chance of beating Bryan Steil this November and get the people of this district the representation they deserve,†she said in the statement.
Emails and calls from ÃÛèÖÊÓÆµ asking for further comment were not returned. SteilÃÛèÖÊÓÆµ campaign responded with an email that did not address the maps directly.
Late last week, Republican lawmakers filed a motion asking the state justices to stay their decision, then on Monday filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule the stateÃÛèÖÊÓÆµ highest court. In the filing, the Republican lawmakers cited concerns over “stark racial discrimination†and violations of the Voting Rights Act.
According to election forecasting website FiveThirtyEight, the new First District would have a Republican lean of 6 percentage points. The current tilt of the district toward Republicans is 14 percentage points.
The shift is because several municipalities in the southern portion of Waukesha County and the far northeastern corner of Walworth County will no longer be part of SteilÃÛèÖÊÓÆµ district. The area is a Republican stronghold where Steil beat his 2020 Democratic challenger by a combined total of 47,047-17,873.
The most populous municipalities making up for those losses will be the cities of Beloit and Whitewater, the town of Whitewater in Walworth County, and three southeastern Milwaukee County suburbs, St. Francis, Cudahy and South Milwaukee. All those cities, which generally boast more minority voters and more college-aged voters than the territory being drawn out of the district, favored the Democrats in their 2020 House races by a combined total of 6,104 votes.
Paired with SteilÃÛèÖÊÓÆµ advantage in the areas being drawn out of the district, that accounts for a 35,278-vote swing toward Democrats.
Still, Roe and her party will have their work cut out for them in the new First District should it survive an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Steil won his 2020 reelection campaign by 75,101 votes with strong showings in Walworth, Racine and Kenosha counties.
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