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Map: Wikipedia (box 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.
Nate Gustafson (R-Neenah) has represented the 55th district since January 2023. He defeated his Democratic opponent by 9 percentage points.
Related reading:
Wisconsin Public Radio, 3/21/2023
For more than a decade, Republicans have held strong control of both houses of the state Legislature, thanks in part to the district lines they drew in 2011.
In 2015, Wisconsin Democrats thought they had the answer to this — a new standard to measure gerrymandering that would give federal courts the ability to rule when a redistricting plan was too partisan.
They took the idea all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the day they made their arguments, it was obvious some justices had their doubts. Chief Justice John Roberts called their ideas "sociological gobbledygook." The case was eventually remanded to a lower court, and in 2019, the Supreme Court slammed the door to the idea when it decided that partisan gerrymandering wasn't justiciable at the federal level.
Other posts in the series:
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