April 14, 2026
MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Tony Evers urged lawmakers Tuesday to adopt a constitutional amendment banning partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin, insisting there is “nothing to negotiate” on the issue of fair maps.
Evers called the Wisconsin Legislature into a special session on April 14 to pass the measure, aiming to permanently prevent legislative districts from being drawn to provide a disproportionate advantage to any political party. However, Republican leaders in the State Assembly chose to leave the special session open indefinitely without taking a vote on the ban.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August released a statement saying they left the session open to continue “meaningful dialogue,” calling Evers’ proposal a “first step” that requires face-to-face negotiation. Vos has previously criticized the governor’s one-sentence amendment as lacking detail on how it would actually work.
For voters in Vernon County and across the state, the political standoff centers on how their legislative representation will be decided after the 2030 U.S. Census. In 2024, Evers signed new legislative maps into law after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down previous Republican-drawn districts that had locked in a strong GOP majority for over a decade. Evers argues that without a permanent constitutional ban, future lawmakers could easily return to partisan map-rigging, erasing the competitive balance the state recently achieved.
“Rigging maps so that one political party stays in power is wrong, it’s anti-democratic, and it’s un-American,” Evers said in a press release. The governor emphasized that the state’s current fair maps have paved the way for recent bipartisan accomplishments, such as funding to fight PFAS statewide and major investments in local K-12 schools.
Because Wisconsin residents cannot propose binding ballot initiatives on their own, the legislature must lead the policy change. To amend the state constitution, the gerrymandering ban must be approved by the legislature in two consecutive sessions before it can go to a statewide referendum, where voters would have the final say.
While Republicans control the legislature’s current schedule, some Democratic leaders have also expressed reservations about the governor’s effort, hedging for the potential that they might soon secure legislative majorities and inherit the power to draw the state’s maps in their own favor. Evers, however, rejected any efforts to compromise, stating that if lawmakers fail to take a public vote on the gerrymandering ban, voters will have no choice but to assume their representative’s position on the issue.
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