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Thursday, October 13, 2022
Eight Wisconsin Legislature races to watch By Erik Pfantz STAFF WRITER
Democrats are scrambling to defend key seats in the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate as Republicans push for a supermajority in the Nov. 8 election. Wisconsin Republicans currently hold a 21-12 majority in the Senate and a 61-38 majority in the Assembly. If Republicans net one more Senate seat and five more Assembly seats on Election Day, they will secure a twothirds supermajority that would allow them to override the governor’s legislative veto. This would also award them near-full control of the state, regardless of which party wins the governor’s election. Republicans got a step closer to a supermajority in April when the Wisconsin Supreme Court chose the Republicancontrolled Legislature’s proposal for redrawing Wisconsin’s legislative district lines over Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ plan, according to WPR. The state Supreme Court initially chose Evers’ map but reversed its decision after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his proposed map due to racial bias concerns. A University of WisconsinMadison analysis of the new maps, which dictate election district boundaries through 2030, found it limited the potential for districts to change party representation in this year’s general election. Though voting patterns in the new districts favor Republicans, Democrats hope to capitalize on Wisconsin’s abortion ban and other major federal legislation to prevent a Republican supermajority. Here are eight Senate and Assembly races to watch: Senate District 25 Superior, Ashland, Rice Lake Republican Romaine Quinn and Democrat Kelly Westlund are facing off in Wisconsin’s geographically largest state senate district in northwestern Wisconsin. Democrats have controlled this largely rural district in nine elections since 1987. However, with Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley (D-Mason) retiring this year, Republicans are hoping to flip this seat by capitalizing on recent conservative swings in Wisconsin’s rural areas. Senate District 25 leans Republican by 7.4 points, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and the new district maps furthered that tilt, putting Democrats in a precarious situation.
wisconsin legislature race page 9 JESSICA CHUDY/THE DAILY CARDINAL
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