National Democrats are doubling down on Wisconsin — literally — after the state locked in new maps for legislative races in the fall, a move that gives the party a path to regaining power in the Legislature.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee announced Wednesday that it will add $24,000 to hire staff, build out campaign infrastructure and other work to support state Assembly and state Senate races in Wisconsin. That comes on top of $24,000 the party initially pledged last year to the Badger State.
In 2022, the DLCC did not name either legislative chamber in Wisconsin as one of its top priorities. By contrast, the outlay in 2024 puts the state as one of the party’s top five priorities in legislative races, alongside other swing state chambers in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Michigan, as well as Wisconsin’s western neighbor in Minnesota.
In a statement, the DLCC’s president, Heather Williams, vowed that “these investments are not our last.”
“For too long, Wisconsin voters faced unfair, gerrymandered maps in the Legislature, but with new maps this year we have new opportunities,” Williams said. “We know the stakes of winning these crucial battleground states are high, with abortion, voting rights, fundamental freedoms and more on the line. Our Democratic candidates need early and strong support to build sustainable winning campaigns — early investments are often what make or break races.”
Gov. Tony Evers’ move to sign the maps last month ended months of wrangling over the fate of the maps after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the old lines in a December ruling. GOP legislators ultimately wound up passing maps Evers submitted to the court, worried that the justices might choose lines that would be even more unfavorable to their cause.
In a memo released last month, the DLCC’s counterpart on the Republican side, the Republican State Leadership Committee, announced it would also consider Wisconsin one of its top priorities, even before the battle over the maps was settled.
Republicans gained control of both chambers of the state Legislature and the governor’s mansion in 2010 elections that also swept former GOP Gov. Scott Walker into office. While Gov. Tony Evers won back the governorship for Democrats in 2018, large legislative majorities have been the norm for the GOP ever since, bolstered by maps that Democrats and political scientists have said are tilted heavily in favor of conservatives.
Republicans currently hold a 64-35 majority in the Assembly and a 22-10 majority in the Senate, with one Democratic-leaning Senate seat vacant.
Democrats are unlikely to regain control of the state Senate this year but could win in three battleground seats in the Milwaukee suburbs, the Green Bay area and south-central Wisconsin.
The Assembly could swing to Democratic control and the party is near certain to at least regain a chunk of seats.
These changes could alter the types of issues that come before legislators, ranging from medical marijuana to health care access, items that have been stalled in the GOP-controlled Legislature.
