The 33rd Assembly District is located in southern Wisconsin and includes the southern half of Jefferson County and northeastern Rock County, allowed the GOP to take another crack at Janesville.
Scott Johnson (R-Jefferson) has represented the 31st district since January 2023. Johnson defeated Democratic challenger Don Vruwink, whom Republicans gerrymandered out of his seat in the 43rd Assembly District, by 0.9 percentage points.
Headline: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8/11/2023
Map: Wisconsin State Legislature (boxes added)
Somehow, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Tyler Katzenberger can write an article about legislative district without mentioning 'gerrymandering', 'packing', and 'cracking'.
It's called journalistic malpractice.
The UW Applied Population Lab defines 'cracking' as
drawing districts in such a way as to divide a concentration of specific types of voters across several districts such that they are a minority in each one, with practically no hope of achieving representation in any of the districts. This practice also helps make districts less competitive.
The UW Applied Population Lab defines 'packing' as
the practice of drawing particular districts in such a way as to ensure that another party's candidate wins that seat by a tremendous margin. Although the opposing party is all but guaranteed the seat, packing makes surrounding districts less competitive, and thus tips the balance of power in the legislative body overall toward the ruling party.
Meet the leaders of the packing and cracking brigade!
Bad optics: Wisconsin Senate, Wisconsin Assem/bly
Wouldn't you rather have this diverse group in the majority?
Other posts in the series:
See also: Spotlight on Wisconsin gerrymandering
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