Liberal Firms Urge Wisconsin Supreme Court To Advance Redistricting Lawsuit
Lawyers for Republicans say Protasiewicz and Crawford should recuse.
The interior of the Wisconsin State Capitol on Monday, July 14, 2025, in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Attorneys from liberal firms are urging the Wisconsin Supreme Court to quickly appoint a three-judge panel to hear lawsuits claiming the state’s congressional districts are gerrymandered and should be redrawn before the 2026 election.
Meanwhile, lawyers for the GOP-controlled Legislature and the state’s Republican U.S. House members say the court’s newest liberal justices should recuse themselves and the cases should be dismissed.
The cases were filed against the backdrop of a state-by-state redistricting battle aimed at swaying the balance of political power in Congress. In Wisconsin, which is known for its 50-50 elections, Republicans hold a 6-2 edge in the state’s U.S. House delegation.
The two redistricting lawsuits from the Elias Law Group and Law Forward are somewhat unique because they rely on a 2011 law written by Wisconsin Republicans. That law, which is untested, instructs the Supreme Court to form a panel of three judges to hear redistricting cases.
After weeks without action, the Supreme Court ordered legal briefs in late September on whether or not the judicial panels are required in these cases. Elias and Law Forward both argue the statute is clear and the court has a duty to appoint circuit court judges from around the state to hear the lawsuits.
In an interview with WPR, Law Forward attorney Doug Poland said the judicial panel law is a “venue statute” and has clear directions for the Supreme Court.
“Our point here is that this is a purely ministerial or administrative task for the court,” Poland said. “This isn’t a statute that gives the court any kind of jurisdiction or supervisory authority over the case. It’s just, the court is just supposed to do something that’s purely administrative or ministerial in nature.”
Attorneys representing the Legislature, GOP House members and the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, or WILL, argue the statute was meant for lawsuits challenging maps drawn by the Wisconsin Legislature. Attorney Luke Berg of WILL told WPR the current congressional districts were adopted by the Supreme Court’s former conservative majority during another redistricting lawsuit three years ago, so the 2011 law doesn’t apply.
He said regardless, the lawsuits should be dismissed because the liberal firms waited years to file their lawsuits and the Supreme Court’s current liberal majority rejected another Elias challenge earlier this year.
“Whether this requires a three-judge panel or not, it’s so procedurally improper and so meritless that you should just dismiss it now and save everyone the time,” Berg said. “We’ll see if the court does that or not.”
GOP congressmen call for Justices Protasiewicz, Crawford to recuse
Justice-elect Susan Crawford takes a seat at her investiture Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Along with their briefs urging justices to dismiss both congressional map challenges, attorneys representing the state’s six Republican House members are urging liberal Justices Janet Protasiewicz and Susan Crawford to recuse themselves and not rule on the venue question.
The GOP congressmen argue Crawford shouldn’t participate because she was part of a call with Democratic donors during her 2025 Supreme Court campaign that was billed by liberal group Focus for Democracy as a “chance to put two more House seats in play for 2026.”
“Here, Wisconsin law requires Justice Crawford’s recusal because of Focus For Democracy’s donor advisors briefing, the Democratic Party’s overwhelming campaign contributions, and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee’s support,” said the brief from GOP congressmen.
The congressman also demanded Protasiewicz step aside from any decisions in the cases, reiterating past GOP complaints about comments she made about GOP maps during her Supreme Court campaign in 2022. They noted Protasiewicz declined to participate in the court’s March 2024 decision to reject yet another attempt by Elias to overturn the state’s congressional map. However, Protasiewicz did not recuse herself in a state legislative redistricting lawsuit decided in 2023.
Janet Protasiewicz speaks after being sworn in as a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, Aug. 1, 2023, in Madison, Wis. Morry Gash/AP
Liberal lawsuits come amid growing national battle over House control
Both lawsuits filed by Elias Law Group and Law Forward claim Wisconsin’s congressional districts are gerrymandered, but they take different legal approaches to get there.
Elias is using the more traditional partisan gerrymander argument, claiming Republicans initially drew the House districts in 2011 to keep their party in control of a majority of the seats. The Law Forward case takes a more novel approach and argues the congressional map is what the firm calls an anti-competitive gerrymander, meaning voters in a Democratic leaning district can’t elect a Republican and vice versa.
Currently, the GOP holds six of the Wisconsin eight House seats. Democrats have tried repeatedly to get the congressional map overturned ahead of the 2026 midterm election.
In other states, that’s meant the blunt use of political power to redraw maps. In Texas, the Republican-led Legislature passed a new map designed to give the GOP five additional House seats. In California, the Democratic-led Legislature responded with a new map aimed at giving Democrats up to five additional seats. Legislators in other states like Missouri, Indiana, Kansas and Utah are also considering redrawing their congressional maps.
Liberal firms urge Wisconsin Supreme Court to move forward with House map lawsuits was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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