Redistricting fight shifts to Wisconsin, where judicial panels may pick new maps

Wisconsin has quietly emerged as the latest front in the national redistricting fight — and a never-before-used legal process seems likely to determine the state's congressional lines in the midterm election.

Wisconsin has quietly emerged as the latest front in the national redistricting fight — and a never-before-used legal process seems likely to determine the state's congressional lines in the midterm election.

The saga unfolding in the critical Midwestern battleground has the potential to put more districts in play for Democrats ahead of next year’s midterms. But unlike in other states that have redrawn their congressional maps mid-decade in recent months, the push toward a new map in Wisconsin is now hinging on a little-known law the GOP-controlled state Legislature enacted 14 years ago.

Days before Thanksgiving, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered a pair of three-judge panels to oversee two lawsuits that allege that the state’s current congressional map is unconstitutional and seek a redraw. Both panels met for the first time Friday for initial hearings.

And Friday's opening moves were only the latest steps in a long, complex path.

Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected a pair of suits seeking a redraw of the state’s eight congressional districts — the second time in as many years that the court had dismissed such an effort.