By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
Congressional Districts: Whitewater Shifts Again
Voters who have lived in Whitewater since at least 2001 have lived through a minimum of three changes of congressional district. The history of those changes and the representatives for those districts are shown below.
The 1990 census redistricting left Whitewater in District 1, where it had been located for decades. The most recent representatives were:
Les Aspin (D) 1971-93
Peter Barca (D) 1993-95
Mark Neumann (R) 1995-99
Paul Ryan (R) 1999-2002
The 2000 census placed the city in District 2, a consistently Democratic district.
Tammy Baldwin (D) 2002-2012
The 2010 census moved Whitewater to District 5, a reliably Republican district.
Jim Sensenbrenner (R) 2012-21
Scott Fitzgerald (R) 2021 – present
The 2020 census has resulted in Whitewater returning to District 1, a right-leaning district where Bryan Steil (R) is serving his second term. Although Steil does not appear to have announced that he is running for re-election, his early fundraising was reported to be strong. Democrat Ann Roe of Janesville announced in July, 2021 that she would be running for the seat. Whitewater is depicted in blue in the upper left corner of Walworth County in the map below.
A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court has resulted in Whitewater moving back to Congressional District 1 effective January, 2023. It’s the district that represented the city’s citizens for decades until 2002. Since that time the city was in District 2 until 2012, and then until next January, in District 5. The decision will move the city from a district that’s represented by Scott Fitzgerald to one currently served by Bryan Steil. The November election will determine who represents the district for the next two years. Some experts believe that Whitewater’s repositioning could contribute to making District 1 more competitive.
The U.S. Constitution requires congressional districts to be redrawn after each census, and, as usual, Wisconsin’s redistricting following the 2020 census has been controversial. The Republican majority legislature proposed one set of maps, and the Democratic governor ultimately proposed two different ones, with the decision then being placed in the hands of the state Supreme Court. On March 3 that court initially chose Gov. Evers’ proposal, indicating that it met most closely the court’s directive that redistricting should result in as little change as possible. That decision was appealed by GOP leaders to the U.S. Supreme Court, which on March 23 approved the governor’s proposed congressional districts, but sent the state legislative map back to the state court for further review. On April 15 the Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed itself and adopted the legislature’s proposed maps. It was just in time, as candidates for offices that are on the November ballot were able to circulate nominating petitions beginning that very date. Partisan primaries will be held Aug. 9, 2022. The election is on Nov. 8, 2022. It is anticipated that the maps may still be subject to appeal, but it appears that the districts are all settled at least for this year.
This November, Whitewater will be voting for the U.S. Representative in District 1, which has leaned Republican for over twenty years. As shown in the illustration above, however, the new boundaries of District 1 included some significant changes. Additions are Democratic leaning areas around Beloit and Janesville, as well as Whitewater. At the same time, the new district is losing a portion of Waukesha County, a Republican stronghold.
J. Miles Coleman, the associate editor for Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said both changes benefit Democrats. Former Republican President Donald Trump carried the 1st by about nine percentage points in 2020, but Coleman said Trump’s margin in the new district would have been just two points.
“That could be maybe the most competitive district in the state over the next decade,” Coleman said. “I know that Steil seems to be pretty well entrenched. He fits the area well. But you never know.”
UPDATE: Sources currently available do not appear to indicate whether the entire city of Whitewater will be part of Congressional District 1. It appears that the Jefferson County portion may remain in District 5. Clarification will be provided as soon as available.
This article addresses the impact of redistricting on our Congressional District assignment; changes are also occurring to our state legislative districts, which will be addressed in a future article.
