In a final twist to the legislative redistricting process the Governor and Legislature came to an agreement on new maps, avoiding the alternative pathway which would’ve seen the State Supreme Court draw the maps.

The new agreed upon maps may have struck the right chord because they left both republicans and democrats complaining about the final result. While we won’t know the true impact of the new maps it is pretty clear that the republican majorities (22-11 in the Senate, 64-35 in the Assembly) will compress, and with that we expect to see at least 25% of the legislature turnover resulting in new faces.

In the Assembly, republicans will still maintain an overall structural electoral advantage and should hold the majority in most years. That said, their majority will shrink and it is possible democrats could flip it in a blue wave type year.

The Senate appears to be even more competitive with either side being able to win a majority, but because Senators run on staggered four year terms, there isn’t a plausible scenario where democrats could gain the majority in 2024. There is however a chance it could be done in 2026 depending on how close things tighten up after the 2024 elections. Senate democrats haven’t held the majority in the Senate since the 2009-2010 session.

Regardless of control, both houses will face the new challenge of passing legislation through narrow majorities. Since 2011, republicans have continuously increased majorities resulting in sessions where they have rarely needed to compromise with democrats to pass things like the budget. Whether the narrow majorities lead to more compromise or greater gridlock has yet to be seen and will be the story of the upcoming session.

If you’re wondering if you are now in a new legislative district you can go to this link: www.legis.state.wi.us and type in your address under “who are my legislators”.