Wisconsin supreme court to hear high-stakes case challenging legislative maps

State assembly map may be the most gerrymandered in US, and lawsuit could end more than a decade of Republican dominance

Wisconsin’s supreme court will hear oral argument on Tuesday in a high-stakes lawsuit seeking to strike down the maps for the state’s legislature. The result could bring an end to what may be the most gerrymandered districts in the United States and upend politics in Wisconsin.

The case, Clarke v Wisconsin Elections Commission, could bring an end to more than a decade of Republican dominance in the Wisconsin legislature. In 2011, Republicans drew districts for the state legislature that were so distorted in their favor that it made it impossible for them to lose their majorities. Last year, the state supreme court implemented new maps that made as little change as possible from the old ones when lawmakers and the state’s Democratic governor reached a redistricting impasse.