The 26th Assembly District is located wholly within Sheboygan County and cracks a large portion of the City of Sheboygan.
Terry Katsma (R-Oostburg) has represented the district since January 2015. In November 2022, he defeated a Democratic challenger by 25 percentage points.
Headline: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8/11/2023
Map: Wisconsin State Legislature (box 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?
Related reading:
Sheboygan Press, 5/17/2021
The city's voters being split between two districts means city residents' votes don't all count toward the same race for their representative in the state Assembly.
"I think the thinking behind that, why people are upset about that, is kind of tied into this concept of communities of interest," Prentice said.
Cracking breaks up communities of interest.
Other posts in the series:
See also: Spotlight on Wisconsin gerrymandering
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