Politics can shock people to their core. Liberal America has gone through this in 2016 and 2024. They’re still unspooled that Donald J. Trump is president of the United States. While not a national result, losing that state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin was a gut punch. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is solidly liberal, but it delivered a shocking blow to Democrats hoping they would obliterate the congressional maps for the 2026 midterms: they rejected the bid (via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel):
🚨 BREAKING: Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court decides NOT to redraw the Congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms to benefit Democrats.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 25, 2025
They have REJECTED hearing a lawsuit brought by prominent Dem lawyer Marc Elias' organization.
That could have been HORRIBLE for… pic.twitter.com/RQh2DkB9bu
The Wisconsin Supreme Court on June 25 rejected a request to reconsider the state's congressional maps ahead of next year's midterm elections, all but ensuring the current maps will remain in place for 2026.
The liberal-controlled court's decision, which was made without comment from the justices, marked the second time in the past two years that the court has rejected a push from Democrats to change the battleground state's federal maps. It is a loss for Democrats who sought more favorable lines as they aim to retake control of the House in 2026.
Democratic groups filed their latest petitions in May asking the court to reconsider the congressional map lines. Any change would have likely made two of the state's six Republican-held House seats more competitive for Democrats. Republicans hold six of the state's eight House seats.
Marc Elias’ law firm has been the point of the liberal lance in trying to change the maps. Not today, sir. Also, on the state level, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled unanimously against Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ use of a partial veto on legislation (via Wisconsin Examiner):
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The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that Gov. Tony Evers overstepped his partial veto power by exercising it on a bill to implement new literacy programs in the state. Evers scolded the decision, while lawmakers said it upheld the balance of power and that they plan to release the funds now.
The decision reverses a lower court, which ruled Evers hadn’t overstepped his power but held that the court did not have the power to compel the Legislature to release the funds.
The case, Wisconsin State Legislature v. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, involves 2023 Wisconsin Act 100 — one part of a series of measures meant to support the creation of new literacy programs in Wisconsin.
In the 2023-25 budget, lawmakers and Evers approved $50 million for new literacy programs but the funding went into a supplemental fund, meaning it required the Republican-led Joint Finance Committee to approve its release to the Department of Public Instruction before it could be used.
2023 Wisconsin Act 20 created an Office of Literacy within the Department of Public Instruction, which would be responsible for establishing an early literacy coaching program and awarding grants to schools. Act 100 was a separate law to create a way for the agency to expend the money transferred by the Joint Committee on Finance.
Evers exercised a partial veto when signing Act 100 into law to expand it from covering a “literacy coaching program” to covering a “literacy program.” The action led to lawmakers withholding the funding, saying he didn’t have the authority to change the law’s purpose, the argument at the center of their subsequent lawsuit. Evers’ administration had argued the bill was an appropriation, and therefore it was within the governor’s powers to partially veto it, and that the Legislature was not within its right to withhold the money.
The Republican-controlled legislature is likely to craft future spending bills in ways that can bypass Evers using a partial veto. So, those are two wins from a liberal state Supreme Court. Hey, sometimes strange things happen, right?
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