Gerrymandering is a cancer — just ask Wisconsin Republicans
Gerrymandering is not only undemocratic and unrepresentative, it hurts the party in power, too. Guest column from Josh Klemons.
The Recombobulation Area is a thirteen-time NINETEEN-TIME Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication founded by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. The Recombobulation Area is now part of Civic Media.
Gerrymandering Is Bad. Period.
Anyone who cares about democracy — or fairness — knows that gerrymandering is bad.
Here in Wisconsin, we’re a 50/50 state (as swingy as a swing state gets!). But in 2010, Republicans won a trifecta — taking the governor’s office, the State Assembly, and the State Senate — and they used that power to draw maps that rigged the game, guaranteeing themselves control of our state legislature for a generation.
For years, Republicans had an easier path to a supermajority than Democrats had to a simple majority. That might make sense in California or Alabama. In purple Wisconsin? It’s a travesty.
It took Wisconsin 15 years to claw its way back from these undemocratic maps.
But we did it!
In 2024, Wisconsin FINALLY got fair maps.
Fair maps took 15 years to win
Last week, we elected a new member of the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. Had Democrats lost, we could have gone right back to Republican gerrymandered maps.
But fortunately, all the money in the world (literally!) couldn’t help Elon Musk buy a Supreme Court seat.
But this isn’t a post about our recent election.
This is a post about why gerrymandering is toxic for everyone — not just the party it shuts out.
Gerrymandering hurts the party in power, too
It’s obvious why gerrymandering is bad for the party out of power.
Democrats in Wisconsin won almost every statewide election for years but still had to genuinely worry about Republican super majorities in the State Legislature. That’s obviously bad.
But what gets too often overlooked: It’s also bad for the party in power.
Really.
Now on the surface, that might seem silly — Robin Vos and Wisconsin Republicans have ruled Wisconsin with an iron fist since before President Obama took out Osama bin Laden!
They have jammed their pro-corporate profit agenda down our collective throats for a decade and a half.
They have put their donors before the people, time and time again.
And they could do it, because the maps they drew protected them from facing repercussions.
But that protection came at a cost
That’s the thing — they disconnected themselves from the voters.
It didn’t matter what they did:
They could gavel out of session in March year after year, despite being paid a full-time salary, without hurting themselves at the ballot box.
They could be deemed the least productive full-time legislature in the country — in the middle of the COVID pandemic no less! — and it wouldn’t cost them any seats.
They could gavel in and gavel out whenever Governor Evers called a special session on important issues like gun violence or chronic workforce challenges.
They were safe to do literally whatever they wanted to do.
And they clearly enjoyed their freedom.
But it came at a huge cost.
In the last four statewide elections where Wisconsin Republicans didn’t have an incumbent on the ballot, their bench was so weak, they struggled to find credible candidates to run.
2022
In 2022, they had to look out of state to find a candidate to run against Governor Tony Evers.
Tim Michels might have roots in Wisconsin, but he’s spent most of his adult life in Connecticut.
He also previously ran for U.S. Senate against Russ Feingold and lost by more than 10 points.
In 2022, he went on to lose to Governor Evers in a Wisconsin landslide (aka – he lost by more than one point).
2023
In 2023, Janet Protasiewicz ran against Dan Kelly for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court.
The last time Kelly had been on the ballot, just a few years prior, he’d lost by over 10 points to Jill Karofksy. An actual landslide!
In 2023, he lost again… by about the same margin.
2024
In 2024, when it was time to take on US Senator Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin Republicans again had to look out of state.
This time, they called on Eric Hovde, who, like Michels, had roots in Wisconsin, but was as California as they come.
He too had also run for office in the past and lost in a primary to Tommy Thompson in his bid to challenge Tammy Baldwin during her first run for US Senate.
2025
In 2025, Susan Crawford ran against Brad Schimel for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court.
Schimel served as Wisconsin Attorney General, a statewide role he lost to current AG Josh Kaul in 2018.
Schimel lost this week to Crawford by a 10-point margin.
Let’s connect the dots
To recap:
Wisconsin Republicans have ruled the Badger State with an iron fist since the year Justin Bieber released “Baby.”
They had an outright super majority in the State Senate as recently as last year, and at the same time were barely shy of a super majority in the State Assembly.
Yet, in their last four open statewide seats, they couldn’t find a single candidate to run for office who wasn’t from out of state and/or a former statewide loser.
Despite having all of this power, they have literally no bench.
Because gerrymandering is a cancer.
Yes, they drew maps that guaranteed their power. But by “protecting” themselves from the voters, they also lost touch with the voters.
For 15 years, Wisconsin Republicans could govern however the hell they wanted, without having to worry about electoral consequences. And it destroyed them as a party.
They’ve struggled to win any statewide election for the last 10 years…
…and now they can’t even find credible candidates to run for higher office.
Let Wisconsin Republican losses be a lesson for the country: gerrymandering is a cancer. It may secure power in the short term — but in the long run, it rots your party from the inside.
When politicians choose their voters instead of the other way around, everyone loses — even the people who think they’ve won.
Josh Klemons is a Digital Storyteller/Strategist and the founder of Reverbal Communications, helping progressive brands, organizations and campaigns win the internet. He’s worked on more than 100 political campaigns, about half of them here in his adopted home of Wisconsin. He really, really hates gerrymandering. Find him on TikTok at @jlemonsk and online at joshklemons.com/politics.
Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @ therecombobulationarea.
Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend.
Part of a group who might want to subscribe together? Get a group subscription for 30% off!
Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer and at BlueSky at @danshafer.bsky.social.
 | A guest post by
|