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Capitol Notes
WI: Weekly Political and Legislative Update
TO: Clients/Friends of Capitol Consultants, Inc./Wimmer & Company, S.C.

FROM:  Capitol Consultants, Inc.
              & Wimmer Company, S.C.

DATE:  July 11, 2011

SUBJECT:  Weekly Update - Redistricting and Recall
Elections
 
In This Issue
Legislature to Consider Redistricting
Recall Elections
Special Election - 48th Assembly District
Committee Schedule this Week
 

Legislature to Consider Redistricting 

 

Late last week, GOP legislative leaders released their plan to redraw Wisconsin legislative maps for the State Senate and State Assembly. The long-anticipated plans are scheduled to be taken up for consideration in extraordinary session by both the full Assembly and Senate as soon as next week, and the appropriate legislative committees are expected to take up the new political boundaries' maps as early as the middle of this week.

 

Redrawing of Wisconsin legislative districts occurs every ten years in correlation with the census. This year, the maps were draw exclusively by the Republicans because the GOP controls both houses of the state legislature.

 

The proposed maps make some significant changes to Wisconsin's current legislative boundaries by placing 22 lawmakers - 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats - with other incumbents. According to WisPolitics.com, map lines had been circulated for weeks as majority lawmakers prepared to push them through ahead of this summer's recall elections, which could potentially flip control of the state Senate (www.wispolitics.com).

After releasing the maps late last week, Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon) and State Senator Scott Fitzgerald (R-Hustiford) released the following statement.

"Republicans have been keeping our promises and getting the job done since Day One," they said. "We started with jobs bills to improve the economy; we balanced the budget on time and turned a deficit into a surplus; and now we're fulfilling our constitutional requirement to properly reapportion the state's legislative and congressional districts."

 

As expected, Democrats immediately pledged a legal challenge to the GOP Redistricting Plan by releasing the following statement through the Office of Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller (D-Monona).

"This latest attempt at a partisan power grab by Republicans is another sad example of their disdain for the law and why people have lost faith in their leadership," he said. "There is no question that the Republicans' partisan political redistricting plan will be challenged in court. The unconstitutional means they employ to try to protect their legislative majorities subvert  the public interest in fair, competitive elections and are unquestionably grounds for a strong legal challenge."

According to WisPolitics, the following current Assembly members are pitted against each other if the new maps are approved without changes.

Current Incumbent Assembly Members facing each other include:
Fred Kessler, D-Milwaukee, and Don Pridemore, R-Hartford
Sandy Pasch, D-Whitefish Bay, and Jim Ott, R-Mequon
Dave Cullen, D-Milwaukee, and Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield
Josh Zepnick, D-Milwaukee, and Peggy Krusick, D-Milwaukee
Andre Jacque, R-Bellevue, and John Klenke, R-Green Bay
Tyler August, R-Walworth, and Amy Loudenbeck  R-Clinton
Chris Danou, D-Trempealeau, and Mark Radcliffe, D-Black River Falls
Andy Jorgensen, D-Fort Atkinson, and Steve Nass, R-Whitewater
John Steinbrink, D-Pleasant Prairie, and Samantha Kerkman, R-Genoa City
Karl Van Roy, R-Green Bay; and John Nygren, R-Marinette.

In the Senate, there are only two incumbent lawmakers are paired against each other - GOP Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) and Sen. Bob Wirch (D- Pleasant Prairie). Under the proposed map, the cities of Kenosha and Racine would be put together in one district while the rural parts of those counties would be pulled together into a separate district. Now, each of the lawmaker's districts largely covers their own counties (www.wispolitics.com).

Here are some brief details of the Senate maps compared to current boundaries:
(parts of analysis taken from WisPolitics.com).

 

1st SD:  Still largely represents the peninsula in northeaster Wisconsin. Held by Sen. Frank Lasee, R-DePere.

2nd SD: Moves west to include most of Outagamie County, more of Shawano County and more of Waupaca County.  Held by Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay.

3rd SD: Unknown. The numbering of the districts covers the proposed boundaries. Held by Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee.

4th SD: Unknown. The numbering of the districts covers the proposed boundaries. Held by Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee.

5th SD: Pushes boundary westward into Waukesha County to pick up more GOP territory. Now held by Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa.

6th SD: Unknown due to lack of details. Still covers city of Milwaukee. Now held by Sen. Spencer Coggs, D-Milwaukee.

7th SD: District appears to continue representing southern Milwaukee County, but map is not detailed enough to ascertain how far into the city of Milwaukee the district may go. Now held by Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee.

8th SD: District appears to move westward to pick up more of Washington and Waukesha counties and northward along Lake Michigan to pick up more of Ozaukee County. Now held by Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills.

9th SD: District shifts in Sheboygan County to cover eastern two-thirds, rather than the northern half of the county as it now does. Sheds piece of Fond du Lac County. Now held by Sen. Joe Leibham, R-Sheboygan.

10th SD: Loses western third of Pierce County. Now represented by Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls.

11th SD: Moves westward to pick up part of Rock County, while losing some territory in Waukesha and Jefferson counties. Now held by Sen. Neal Kedzie, R-Elkhorn.

12th SD: Picks up more of Oconto County. Now held by Sen. Jim Holperin, D-Conover.

13th SD: Loses some of southern Jefferson County, picks up piece of eastern Dane County. Now held by Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau.

14th SD: Picks up piece of Adams County, adds territory in Columbia County and adds small sections of northern Dane County. Now held by Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon.

15th SD: Loses southeast corner of Rock County, picks up some of southern Dane County and picks up southeastern one-third of Green County. Now represented by Sen. Tim Cullen, D-Janesville.

16th SD: Sheds parts of Columbia County and northern and eastern Dane County. Now held by Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona.

17th SD: Loses parts of Iowa and Sauk counties, picks up rest of Richland County. Now held by Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center.

18th SD: Largely unchanged. Now held by Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac.

19th SD: Loses some of Outagamie County. Now held by Sen. Mike Ellis, R-Neenah.

20th SD: Swaps some territory in Sheboygan County with the 9th and picks up northeastern third of Fond du Lac County. Now held by Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend.

21st SD: Switched from a largely Racine County district to one that includes rural and suburban areas of Racine and Kenosha counties. Now represented by Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine.

22nd SD: Switched from a largely Kenosha County district to one that includes stretch along Lake Michigan from city of Kenosha through city of Racine. Now represented by Sen. Bob Wirch, D-Kenosha, who would be drawn out of his district.

23rd SD: Swaps portions of Eau Claire County to represent the eastern half rather than the northern one-third. Now represented by Sen. Terry Moulton, R-Chippewa Falls.

24th SD: Picks up portions of Jackson and Monroe counties, loses southern half of Adams County, adds southwestern corner of Waushara County. Now represented by Sen. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point.

25th SD: Loses most of Sawyer County, picks up corners of Dunn, St. Croix and Polk counties. Now held by Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar.

26th SD: Continues to largely represent Madison. Now held by Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison.

27th SD: Loses southern half of Green County, picks up eastern third of Iowa County, and adds portions of Sauk and Columbia counties. Now held by Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton.

28th SD: Largely unchanged. Now held by Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin.

29th SD: Swaps Price County for most of Sawyer County. Now held by Sen. Pam Galloway, R-Wausau.

30th: Area in Brown County included in district changes. But exact differences hard t ascertain. Now held by Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay.

31st SD: Loses portion of Jackson County, all of Monroe County that it had represented and swaps area represented in Eau Claire County to have the western half rather than the southern two-thirds. Now held by Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma.

32nd SD: Loses areas in Richland County. Now held by Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse.

33rd SD: Loses portion of Washington County and becomes more concentrated around city of Waukesha and surrounding area. Now held by Sen. Rich Zipperer, R-Pewaukee.

See a statewide map of the legislative boundaries:
http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/11_2266_1_leg_maps_and_tables.pdf

See the legislative redistricting bill:
http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/11_2266_1_leg_redistricting_SB__2_.pdf

See the amendment on the 8th and 9th Ads:
http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/large/11a1388_1_SA_to_leg_redistricting_SB.pdf

Wisconsin Congressional Maps also Released

Late last week, a map that redistrict Wisconsin's eight congressional districts was released. The map of House districts would swap several areas of the 7th  Congressional District (northern and northwestern WI) and the 3rd Congressional District (western and westcentral Wisconsin).  

 

The 7th District, which is held by first-term GOP Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Ashland) would pick up fast-growing St. Croix County on the western edge of the state, while shedding all of Portage and most of Wood counties to the 3rd District, which is represented by seven-term Democratic Representative Ron Kind (D-La Crosse).
 
See the congressional map:
http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/large/11_2265_2_cong_maps_and_tables.pdf

See the language of the congressional redistricting bill:
http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/11_2265_2_cong_redistricting_SB.pdf     

  

 

  

 
Recall Elections Begin Tomorrow

This week begins the month-long process of recall elections of nine of Wisconsin's 33 State Senators. Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 12, will see primary elections in five of the nine Senate Seats. The primaries are in seven of the nine races tomorrow with the two other primaries  scheduled for the next Tuesday, July 19, in District 12 and District 22.

The general election for seven districts have primaries tomorrow will be on Tuesday, August 9, and District 12  and District 22 general elections will be on Tuesday, August 16.

Currently, the State Senate is controlled by the Republicans by a 19 to 14 margin.

Those districts having recall primary elections tomorrow are:

Senate District 2 -Green Bay, Shawano areas -  held by long-time GOP Senator Rob Cowles (R-DePere). The primary is on the Democratic side and sees former Brown County Executive Nancy Nusbaum facing former GOP Representative Otto Junkermann, who is running as a "GOP protest candidate" in the Democratic primary.

The winner of the tomorrow's Democratic primary faces the incumbent Cowles in a recall election on Tuesday, August 9.

Senate District 8 - Menomonee Falls, Shorewood, and other northern Milwaukee suburbs - held by GOP Joint Finance Chair Alberta Darling (R-River Hills). The Democratic primary tomorrow is between State Representative Sandy Pasch (D-Shorewood) and "GOP protest candidate" Gladys Huber, who is running as a Democrat.

The winner will face Darling on Tuesday, August 9.

Senate District 10 - River Falls, Hudson, and Amery areas - held by GOP Senator Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls). The primary is on the Democratic side where Democrat Shelly Moore, who is a school teacher from Ellsworth, is facing "GOP protest candidate"
Isaac Wiex.

The winner faces Harsdorf on Tuesday, August 9.

Senate District 12 - Merrill, Antigo, Rhinelander and northeastern Wisconsin - held by first-term Democratic Senator Jim Holperin (D-Conover). The Republican primary is next Tuesday, July 19, and is between Kim Simac and Lincoln County Board Chair Robert Lussow.

The GOP primary winner faces Holperin on Tuesday, August 16.

Senate District 14 - Portage, Waupaca, and Berlin areas - held by GOP Senator Luther Olson (R-Ripon). The Democratic primary is between State Representative Fred Clark (D-Baraboo) and "GOP protest candidate" Democrat Rol Church.

The Dem winner faces Olson on Tuesday, August 9.

Senate District 18 - Fond du Lac, Oshkosh - held by first-term Senator Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac). The Democratic primary is between Oshkosh City Council Member Jess King and "GOP protest candidate" John Buckstaff, who is running as a Democrat.

The general election is on Tuesday, August 9. 

Senate District 22 - most of Kenosha County - held by long-time Democratic Senator Bob Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie).  The July 19 primary in this race is on the Republican side where Jonathan Seitz faces Fred Ekornaas.

The general election is on Tuesday, August 16.

Senate District 32 - La Crosse, Vernon and Crawford counties - held by GOP Senator Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse). Tomorrow's primary has State Representative Jen Shilling (D-La Crosse) facing "GOP protest candidate" James Smith.

The Democratic primary winner faces Kapanke on Tuesday, August 9.

General Election on Tuesday, July 19
Senate District 30 -  Green Bay, Oconto and Marinette - held by Senator Democratic Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay). There is no primary in the race, so the general election will be held next Tuesday, July 19 where Hansen will face wind developer David VanderLeest.



 
Special Election 48th Assembly District

There is another election on the ballot tomorrow. Voters in the vacant 48th Assembly District - far east-side of Madison, Monona and the Town of Dunn (Dane County) will go to the polls to fill seat for the remainder of the 2011-12 legislative term. The seat was vacated in April when then Democratic State Representative Joe Parisi was elected to fill out the remainder of Kathleen Falk's term as Dane County Executive.

There are six vying candidates for the Democratic nomination in tomorrow's primary election. Since there is not a GOP candidate in the race, the winner of the Democratic primary will win the open seat in the State Assembly.

The six candidates running in the race include:

Vicky Selkowe, an aide to State Representative Cory Mason (D-Racine).
Chris Taylor, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.
Fred Arnold, former Madison Alder and former Dane County Supervisor.
Bethany Ordaz, an aide to State Representative JoCasta Zamarripa.
Andy Heidt, former Madison Alder.
David de Felice, Dane County Supervisor.

To view a profile of the 48th Assembly District race, click here.

 
Committee Schedule this Week
  
Senate and Assembly Rules Committees will meet today to set the extraordinary session date for next Tuesday, July 19, for the full legislature to debate the GOP Redistricting Plan.