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Cracking southeastern Dane County.
Packing Janesville.
Map: Wikipedia (rectangles added)
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. [emphasis added]
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.
A drastic realignment of the 43rd District's boundaries placed former representative Don Vruwink (D-Milton) in a Republican-leaning district, where he lost in 2022 by 247 votes. Jenna Jacobson (D-Oregon) has represented the district since January 2023.
Related reading:
Brennan Center, 8/10/2021
On the state level, gerrymandering has also led to significant partisan bias in maps. For example, in 2018, Democrats in Wisconsin won every statewide office and a majority of the statewide vote, but thanks to gerrymandering, won only 36 of the 99 seats in the state assembly.
Other posts in the series:
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