Wisconsin politics were shaken up this year with the signing of new legislative maps that ended over a decade of extreme and effective Republican gerrymandering.

It was the first time in Wisconsin history a Legislature and a governor of different parties agreed on legislative redistricting, the Legislative Reference Bureau told Wisconsin Watch.

In a good Republican year across the country, Wisconsin Democrats flipped 14 seats in the Legislature — largely because of those new maps. It wasn’t enough to win a majority in the Assembly or the Senate, but the resulting 54-45 and 18-15 splits better reflect Wisconsin’s swing-state status.

Wisconsin’s congressional maps were not redrawn. Republicans kept six of the state’s eight congressional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The state’s current congressional maps were drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and approved by the then-conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2022. The last time a governor of one party and a Legislature of another agreed on congressional maps was in 1991.

Evers’ maps were slightly more favorable to Democrats than the previous decade’s maps, but they didn’t change that much because the court established a “least change” rule when deciding which maps it would approve. That meant they would largely conform to the Republican maps that had been in place since 2011.

In March, the now-liberal high court denied a request to reconsider the state’s congressional maps before this year’s elections without stating a reason. Evers had asked for changes to the congressional maps soon after he signed the new legislative maps into law in February. Those maps were approved by the GOP-controlled Legislature.

Elias Law Group filed a motion in January asking the court to revise the congressional boundaries ahead of the 2024 election. The Democratic law firm argued that new maps were justified after the court abandoned the “least change” approach when deciding on the legislative map challenge last year. In that case, the state Supreme Court said it would no longer favor maps that present minimal changes to existing boundaries.

Democrats argued that Evers’ congressional boundaries drawn in 2022 were decided under the “least change” restrictions later thrown out by the court in the legislative redistricting case.

Republicans pushed back, arguing that newly elected liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz prejudged the case during her 2023 campaign. They requested she recuse herself from the case. But Protasiewicz said she decided not to vote on the motion to reconsider the congressional maps because she wasn’t on the court when the underlying case was decided.

Republican Party of Wisconsin chair Brian Schimming in a statement called the court’s decision “the demise of Governor Evers’ latest attempt to throw out his own hand-drawn congressional maps.”

Republicans have retained control of six of Wisconsin’s eight House seats, with Democratic Reps. Mark Pocan and Gwen Moore safely controlling the two districts that cover Madison and Milwaukee. In comparison, Democrats held five of the eight seats in 2010 — the year before Republicans redrew the maps.

The 1st and 3rd districts are currently the only competitive congressional districts in Wisconsin, represented by Republican Reps. Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden respectively. Steil won his race this month with 54% of the vote, and Van Orden won with 51.4% of the vote.

Conservative Chief Justice Annette Ziegler and Justice Rebecca Bradley in their concurrence wrote the new majority’s “reckless abandonment of settled legal precedent” in the legislative redistricting case “incentivizes litigants to bring politically divisive cases to this court regardless of their legal merit.”

Representatives of Elias Law Group did not respond to Wisconsin Watch when asked if they anticipate another legal challenge to the congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

“I remain very interested between now and 2030 in trying to find a way to get the court to … tell us whether partisan gerrymandering violates the Wisconsin Constitution. I believe it does,” Jeff Mandell, founder of the liberal legal group Law Forward, told Wisconsin Watch. “I believe the court will say it does when we present the right case.”

But Mandell said nothing has been drafted, and his group won’t bring a case to the Supreme Court unless it has “got the goods.”

Wisconsin Watch readers have submitted questions to our statehouse team, and we’ll answer them in our series, Ask Wisconsin Watch. Have a question about state government? Ask it here.

Why were state legislative districts redrawn for 2024, but congressional districts remain unchanged? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

No. During Wisconsin elections, such as the upcoming general election on Nov. 5, regular voters may only cast ballots in person at a polling location or by mailing an absentee ballot.

The website myvote.wi.gov enables Wisconsin residents to register online and request a paper absentee ballot. For voters who are already registered, Oct. 31 is the deadline to request an absentee ballot. All absentee ballots must be received by municipal clerks by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

However, there are exceptions for military and overseas voters.

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, enacted in 1986, enables members of the U.S. Uniformed Services, the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Merchant Marine; their family members and U.S. citizens residing outside the country to electronically request and receive voter registration and absentee ballot applications and blank absentee ballots.

​​Thirty-one states — but not Wisconsin — along with Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands allow some voters, including those in the military or overseas, to return ballots electronically, via fax, email or through an online portal.​ ​​Wisconsin only allows those types of voters to request and receive absentee ballots electronically, but they must return hard copies via the post.

Overseas voters must request their absentee ballots by 5 p.m. Oct. 31. 

Military voters away from home must request their absentee ballots before 5 p.m. on Election Day and return them to their municipal clerk by 8 p.m., which while theoretically possible, is unlikely to be successful when voting in Wisconsin. 

The federal Voting Assistance Program recommends returning completed ballots 11 to 35 calendar days before the election to be counted, depending on the location of the uniformed service member or their eligible family.

Citing cybersecurity concerns, a federal interagency group issued guidance in 2020 to increase state election officials’ awareness of the risks associated with electronic ballot delivery and return. The four agencies recommended paper ballots, saying remote voting is “vulnerable to systemic disruption.”

Wisconsin Watch readers have submitted questions to our statehouse team, and we’ll answer them in our series, Ask Wisconsin Watch. Have a question about state government? Ask it here.

I’m out of town now. Is there a way to vote in Wisconsin elections online? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

A reader sent Ask Wisconsin Watch a question about how the state compares with other states in various categories related to transportation, education, health care, parks and local funding. Here’s a look at how health and wellness ranks in Wisconsin.

Across various measures of health and wellness, Wisconsin ranked 22nd based on data from America’s Health Rankings’ 2023 annual report. On the horizontal axis, the graphic indicates what percentage of people in the state are impacted by the issue. The specifics of each measure can be found here. Wisconsin’s worst rankings were in obesity, housing with lead risk, racial disparities in premature death and low birthweight and excessive, heavy and binge drinking. 

Excessive drinking is the percentage of adults who reported binge or heavy drinking. Binge drinking is four or more drinks on one occasion for females and five or more drinks for males. Heavy drinking is defined as eight or more drinks per week for females and 15 or more for males.

Compared with the national average of 18.4% of adults, 21.6% of adults in Wisconsin drink excessively. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, excessive drinking can cause long-term damage to the heart, liver, pancreas and immune system. It has also been linked to multiple forms of cancer. Revisit our past coverage of Wisconsin’s deadly problem with excessive drinking.

Wisconsin also ranked 49th, tied with Michigan, for money spent on public health. The national average was $183 per person — Wisconsin and Michigan both spent $128 per person.

Wisconsin ranked well in crowded housing, cancer screenings, voter participation and high school graduation rates. The national average voter participation was 59.5% while 67.3% of eligible voters in Wisconsin participated in the last presidential and national midterm elections.

Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.

DataWatch: Overall, Wisconsin’s health is above average in the United States is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Wisconsin continues to stand out among Midwest states as one of few that haven’t legalized medicinal and recreational marijuana, and fingers have long pointed to the Tavern League of Wisconsin as the main adversary to legalization.

But according to public lobbying records — which organizations attempting to influence policy must report with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission — the trade association has never lobbied for or against it, nor does it take a stance on the issue, according to the Tavern League’s government affairs spokesperson Scott Stenger. 

“We will not weigh in on that issue, it’s just not something our members care about,” Stenger said.

Stenger said the Tavern League takes the lobbying reporting laws very seriously. Despite countering the claims that the league opposes marijuana legalization, he said he still receives calls from people who are “belligerent” over the issue.

“It would seem to me that there’d be more reasons for us to support than oppose, but we never have,” Stenger said. “This idea that if you legalize marijuana, people aren’t going to go to taverns — marijuana is legal in a lot of states, and the on-premise industry hasn’t declined. So there’s no correlation whatsoever.”

Then why do so many believe the Tavern League is against marijuana?

Studies on whether the legalization of cannabis products leads to a decrease in alcohol sales have shown mixed results. Data from a study in Canada showed that cannabis legalization was associated with a decline in beer sales, though not spirits sales, implying marijuana is being used as a substitute for beer.

But a study of Washington, Colorado and Oregon — three U.S. states where recreational cannabis has been legal the longest — found no evidence that legalization has impacted total alcohol sales. 

So who actually is lobbying against marijuana legalization in Wisconsin? 

Since 2003, three interest groups have lobbied directly against bills that would have legalized medicinal and/or recreational marijuana: Wisconsin Family Action, Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association and Wisconsin Medical Society. 

The Medical Society has lobbied against legalizing medicinal use for years. The last time the group lobbied directly on a medical marijuana bill in the Legislature was in 2022. The association still opposes medicinal legalization, according to its chief policy and advocacy officer Mark Grapentine. 

“Medicines” are substances approved by the FDA after rigorous testing to make sure any drug is effective and safe, Grapentine told Wisconsin Watch. 

“We do not support so-called ‘medical’ marijuana schemes because they are designed to sound like marijuana research has gone through that kind of trusted process, but it has not,” he said. 

The Medical Society does support moving marijuana to a place in the Controlled Substances Act that allows for more widespread study and clinical research for the development of cannabis medicines.

“I think it’s one of those perpetual issues — it’s always either ‘medical’ marijuana of some kind or full-blown legalization,” Grapentine said in an email when asked about the future of marijuana bills in the Legislature.

In 2022, 2017 and 2015, the Chiefs of Police Association lobbied against both recreational and medicinal marijuana legislation. The association declined to comment for this story.

Wisconsin Family Action lobbied against one of the most recent marijuana bills in the Legislature in 2023. The bill, introduced by state Sen. Melissa Agard, would have legalized both recreational and medicinal cannabis. It died in the state Senate. 

Wisconsin Family Action did not respond to Wisconsin Watch’s repeated requests for comment. In 2022, the group released a statement saying “Christians should oppose” Gov. Tony Evers and included his support for recreational marijuana legalization as one of the reasons.

In 2010 and 2019, the Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association lobbied against bipartisan bills that would have established a medical necessity defense to marijuana-related prosecutions. When asked what the group’s current stance on marijuana is, business manager Sandy Schueller said “we aren’t taking a formal position until we see the official legislation during the next session of the Legislature.”

In 2019, the Badger State Sheriffs’ Association also lobbied against bipartisan legislation that would have established a medical use defense, as well as a medical cannabis registry. The association president, Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt, told Wisconsin Watch the group remains opposed to both medical and recreational marijuana.

Wisconsin Watch readers have submitted questions to our statehouse team, and we’ll answer them in our series, Ask Wisconsin Watch. Have a question about state government? Ask it here.

Does the Tavern League of Wisconsin lobby against recreational marijuana? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.