With yesterday’s ruling by the US Supreme Court throwing out the legislative districts drawn up by Governor Tony Evers in the maps selected by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the state finds itself back at square one in the redistricting process. And time is quickly running out to come up with new maps–as candidates for those seats can start taking out nomination papers on July 1st, and they really need to know in what district they live.
We have tried to Legislative approach to developing maps–and Governor Tony Evers vetoed them because it created too many safe seats for Republicans. We tried the “independent body” approach with the “People’s Maps Commission” but that was overwhelmingly defeated in the Legislature with members of the Black Caucus leading the way, pointing out that while the commission intentionally drew up the districts to maximize Democrats’ chances of winning seats, it did so by decreasing the number of majority-minority districts to do so. And we have tried the judicial writ approach–but yesterday the Wisconsin Supreme Court had its lunch eaten by the US Supreme Court.
So that leaves us no choice but to make our own “fair districts” as citizens. Let’s get ready to move, people!
Democrats, head back to the country. Return to the small towns, the farms, and the Northwoods. UPS, FedEx, and the Postal Service all have vehicles that service those areas with your delivery food, clothing, dog toys, air fryers, and Kardashian makeup. Over the air TV stations still have shows you can watch–just once a week instead of for 12-hours straight–and there are radio stations that will play the popular hits with just as many commercials as your favorite streaming services. There are diners that serve coffee and the schools have small class sizes just because there are fewer kids to begin with. There are acres of “green space”, existing trails to enjoy, and you don’t have to change zoning laws so there are no large concrete parking lots or traffic jams.
Farm-to-fork has real meaning when you actually live on the farm. And you don’t have to wait until Saturday to get your “locally sourced” food. As a bonus, you can have as few cows as you want, you can feed them whatever you want, and you can compost their waste all you want as well. The same goes for whatever techniques you want to use to grow you crops too. If you don’t want to use herbicides or pesticides or phosphorous-based fertilizers–knock yourself out.
Republicans, bite the bullet and find somewhere to live in Dane and Milwaukee counties. State government employees and those with the UW System have built up a number of fine McMansions all over the place just outside the beltway of Madison. I see them all the time when I’m playing golf at University Ridge or Hawks Landing. They all have nice, fenced-in yards on quiet streets. If the Capitol wasn’t just off in the distance, you couldn’t tell that you weren’t in Whitefish Bay or Greenville. As the Democrats living there head out to balance out the rural parts of the state, you just replace them in the areas that are densely-blue.
You know all those quaint, historic houses that they are always renovating or flipping on HGTV? There are a bunch of those in the Milwaukee area. Let’s turn it into the “new Waco”. I’m pretty sure that Menards carries shiplap, and with the number of old barns in this state, there has to be a nearly-endless supply of reclaimed doors you can hang on walls for no reason or turn into kitchen tables and countertops.
People of color, stay where you are. I know that sounds super racist to say, but the Voting Rights Act and the Supreme Court decision in Thornburg vs Gingles requires states to create majority-minority districts in order to ensure that the voting power of those citizens is not diluted. So you will have to remain densely-packed into certain areas to make sure Wisconsin continues to meet the standard upheld this week by the US Supreme Court.
I know this is going to be a huge inconvenience for many of us, having to uproot ourselves and give up the lives we choose to live–but if having “fair maps” is so important to us, it’s the only choice we’ve got. And we’ve got three months to do it.
