Hansen To Propose Changes To Redistricting

A state senator who says he was the target of “gerrymandering” wants to change the way Wisconsin’s legislative districts are drawn. Dave Hansen says the work should be taken away from partisan lawmakers.

Hansen represents northeastern Wisconsin’s 30th Senate District. But the district looks much different than it did when he was first elected in 2000.

Districts statewide were redrawn after the 2010 census, and Hansen lost much of the west side of Green Bay. He gained more rural areas and now says he has 30,000 new constituents, “I think this election the district that was designed for me was designed to beat me, but it didn’t happen.”

Hansen won reelection this November. Now he is reviving an idea that would take redistricting out of lawmakers’ hands and give it to the non-partisan Legislative Reference Bureau. He first floated the idea in 2003.

Democrats claim Republicans redrew districts that concentrated Democrats in places that lean left. Then, the theory goes, the GOP drew other districts that would be more competitive for that party.

Republicans took control of the state Senate this fall. Hansen says the Reference Bureau would have a more open process, “Well the bureaucrats are non-partisan. And that’s why they’re hired. I think the political process of redistricting has not worked, will not work in this state and this is the time to do it in a bipartisan way.”

That’s because districts won’t be redrawn for another eight years. Hansen says he’ll introduce the bill in January.