Wisconsin's protracted political redistricting fight took two turns in May: a federal court affirmed Wisconsin's congressional district map and the U.S. Supreme Court further curtailed safeguards that have governed redistricting nationally.
A three-judge panel dismissed a lawsuit in the federal court case that challenged the congressional maps for Wisconsin. The case argued that the state’s congressional maps are “anti-competitive” and favor a Republican majority. The court ultimately ruled for the district maps to retain the district lines that resulted in a congressional delegation of six Republicans and two Democrats.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not draw congressional districts on the basis of race, which could affect national redistricting efforts in the coming years.
Neither ruling will impact Wisconsin's maps for the 2026 general election in November, but both could have an effect on future redistricting disputes in Wisconsin.
"There has been a lot of legal activity in recent months, but none of it will affect the district lines in place for the 2026 elections in Wisconsin," Barry Burden, political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison told The Daily Cardinal.. "The state and federal cases are more likely to create opportunities for new districts before the subsequent round of elections two years later in 2028."
Gov. Tony Evers signed new legislative maps into law in February 2024 after Wisconsin had what experts considered to be some of the most gerrymandered maps in the country. In April 2026, Evers held a special session of the Legislature to consider a constitutional amendment that would permanently end partisan gerrymandering in the state. While Republican lawmakers did not consider the amendment, they postponed the session, leaving room for potential negotiations.
The rejected challenge to Wisconsin’s congressional map was the latest attempt against the boundaries that experts say favor Republicans in the key swing state. According to Burden, any substantial change to Wisconsin's congressional maps would be subject to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
"The lawsuits challenging the state's congressional districts would need to be taken up by the Wisconsin Supreme Court for them to have any impact on the state's eight U.S. House seats," Burden said. "Although the cases might well end up falling short, in theory the court could decide to strike down the districts and establish a process for redrawing the districts sometime next year.”
Burden said if the state court were to strike down the current maps, the resulting districts would likely be more politically competitive.
"That would likely help to balance the partisanship in the current districts that are represented by six Republicans and two Democrats," Burden said.
While the Wisconsin Supreme Court's decision to strike down the district maps would not have a direct impact on the state's congressional map, its implications may reach farther as its ruling will affect how legislative maps for the State Assembly and State Senate districts are drawn.
"Because the federal requirements to represent minority voters have been weakened and the burden for proving racial discrimination has been made more difficult, lawmakers could be more openly partisan in redrawing the districts for the State Assembly and State Senate," Burden said.
Although the next nationwide redistricting process will occur in the 2030 census, Burden noted that political circumstances could lead to new map-drawing efforts sooner.
"That action could happen as soon as next year if one party sweeps this year's Wisconsin elections but will definitely happen on the regular schedule after the next census in 2030," Burden said.
For now, Wisconsin will move into the 2026 election cycle with its same congressional districts.
