Gerrymandering: Fair Maps for Wisconsin Summit set in Marshfield

MARSHFIELD - A group of passionate Wisconsinites are hoping to take on partisan gerrymandering next month. 

The Fair Maps for Wisconsin Summit will be held Nov. 9 in Marshfield and aims to teach Wisconsin residents how partisan gerrymandering, or re-drawing of political districts by politicians to give their party a partisan advantage, affects them and the resources available to them. The summit is sponsored by several nonprofit and grassroots organizations, including the Fair Elections Project, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and The Madison Institute.

The summit was announced at a Thursday morning press conference in front of Marshfield City Hall, just blocks from Hotel Marshfield, where the day-long summit will be held. 

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 Ballotopedia, 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. 

"It was in the spirit of gerrymandering so that I would lose my Assembly seat, and I eventually did," she said. "Which was disheartening." 

Vruwink ran for reelection in 2014, but was defeated by Republican challenger Nancy VanderMeer, who still holds the seat in the 70th District. 

© Laura Schulte/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Carlene Bechen of the Oregon Area Progressives speaks during a Thursday morning press conference announcing the Fair Maps For Wisconsin Summit, which will combat gerrymandering.

Matthew Rothschild, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonprofit watchdog group dedicated to clean government, said the number of people supporting the cause of eliminating gerrymandering is growing. 

"This is the biggest mass movement that's going on in the state right now," he said during the Thursday press conference. "All across the state, people want to see fair maps. People just want fairness." 

Rothschild said gerrymandering isn't only perpetrated by one political party, either, but done instead to retain power and influence in unsure districts. That, he said, is why more residents should learn about the issue and encourage their local county government to take up the issue. 

To date, 48 of Wisconsin's 72 counties have passed some kind of resolution geared toward eliminating gerrymandering, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. The resolutions called for some type of nonpartisan system to keep the process of drawing boundaries fair. 

Some states have already enacted systems that work to achieve fairness, such as Iowa, which has had such a system since 1980. The non-partisan Legislative Services Agency draws the boundaries after each census, making the process more transparent. 

By offering the Fair Maps conference next month, Carlene Bechen of the Oregon Area Progressives, the convening organization for the event, hopes residents of counties across the state gain more knowledge and can lobby their lawmakers. Gerrymandering, she said, touches people's lives in more ways than they may even know. 

"Gerrymandering threatens every aspect of our lives, from funding for education and roads to health care and the environment and all the things that affect our quality of life," Bechen said at the conference. "Most disturbingly, gerrymandering undermines fair legislative representation in our state and national governments. 

The office of Rep. John Spiros of the 68th District did not return several requests for comment.

Want to know more about the Fair Maps For Wisconsin Summit? 

The summit will start at 10 a.m. Nov. 9 at Hotel Marshfield, 2700 S. Central Ave.,

Marshfield. The cost of the summit is $50 per person and includes lunch. 

Visit www.fairmaps4wisummit.com for more details or to register. 

Contact Laura Schulte at 715-496-4088 or leschulte@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @schultelaura. 

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This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Gerrymandering: Fair Maps for Wisconsin Summit set in Marshfield