The other side of dismantling the Wausau area community of interest (inner orange box), courtesy of the Exact-O knives of the GOP gerrymanderers. (See 10/19/2023 post for the rest of the story.)
The majority of the gerrymandered 86th Assembly District is within a selective portion of Marathon County (purple box in above map), with a Wood County add-on that cracks the Marshfield area community of interest (orange highlight). (See "State-based requirements".)
John Spiros (R-Marshfield) has represented the district since January 2013. He ran unopposed in November 2022.
Headline: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8/11/2023
Marshfield close-up
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.
Th 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.
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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? They support fair maps.
Related reading:
Wausau Daily Herald, 10/10/2019
The group chose Marshfield for the conference because of its central location but also because the city fell victim to partisan redistricting in 2013, said former state Assembly representative Amy Sue Vruwink during the press conference.
Vruwink represented the 70th District from 2002 to 2015, according to Ballotpedia, which during most of her tenure included the city of Marshfield. The city is now split down the middle between the 68th and 69th assembly districts.
Other posts in the series:
See also: Wisconsin Gerrymandering Spotlight, round 2
See also: Spotlight on Wisconsin gerrymandering
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