by Baylor Spears, Wisconsin Examiner
June 18, 2024
Wisconsin’s new legislative maps, which were proposed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers after the state Supreme Court ruled the previous maps were unconstitutional, have transformed the conversation about state races headed into the 2024 elections. The maps were passed by the Republican-led Legislature and signed by Evers in February.
Democrats, who were focused last election cycle on trying to prevent Republican supermajorities, say the maps give them an opportunity to loosen Republicans’ grip on the majority in the state Legislature, which has been firmly in GOP hands since 2010.
The state Democratic party has recruited candidates to run for 97 of 99 Assembly seats and is fielding candidates in each of the Senate seats up for election this cycle. Their goal is to flip the Assembly and lay the groundwork to flip the Senate in the 2026 election cycle. Leaders have said achieving gains in the Legislature will allow them to work towards a list of priorities including protecting reproductive rights, expanding Medicaid, boosting public school funding and repealing Act 10, the law that ended most collective bargaining rights for public employees.
Meanwhile, Republicans are fighting to protect their legislative majorities and have acknowledged the challenge they face in accomplishing that with the new maps in place.
Republicans currently hold 64 of 99 Assembly seats — meaning Democrats need to pick up 15 additional seats to win a majority.
In the Senate, Republicans currently hold a 22-9 majority. The chances of Democrats winning a majority there are slim since only even-numbered seats are up for election this year, but Democrats are aiming to retain their current seats and pick up at least four seats this cycle, including SD 8, 14, 18 and 30.
The below interactive maps show every candidate listed on ballots this year as certified by the Wisconsin Elections Commission. It also includes additional information about some of the Democratic and Republican primary races that will take place in August as well as information about the most competitive districts identified by a Marquette Law School analysis done by John Johnson, a research fellow in the Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education. In his analysis, Johnson used the results of the 2022 state legislative elections to predict which districts will have close races under the 2024 maps.
Wisconsin state legislative primary maps
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