I am.
OK.
All right.
So, Professor Travaskin, just after the governor's state of the state address, where
he spoke to what he called fair maps, in the capital, there is a sense, from speaker
Robin Voss himself, that he might vote for the governor's maps.
It just shows how wild and crazy government in Wisconsin can be.
Jerry Mandarin is the hot topic in Wisconsin state government, because so much is at stake.
We're talking legislators' jobs, their chances of getting reelected, the balance of power
in Wisconsin state government, majority control.
So even as governor Evers gave his state of the state address, thoughts of campaign 24
were clearly the overarching concern for legislators and the governor alike, as you
noted for him again, he mentioned fair maps in his address, and he tried to make the
argument that Jerry Mandarin leads the distorted policy outcome.
So it's clear that Jerry Mandarin is top of mind for basically everyone here in Wisconsin
state government.
What is a reaction to the idea that the assembly and speaker Voss would forward the idea of
voting for the governor's maps, agreeing with that?
It's a surprising development, but it also just shows how completely transformed the
politics of redistricting have become.
Something like this would have been laughable in previous years, but if you look at the
politics of the Wisconsin state Supreme Court, the new liberal majority, and the subsequent
lawsuit over redistricting, that all leads us to this point, where the political realities
for Republicans are completely different than they used to be, and that is causing Republicans
to do some surprising things on the issue of redistricting.
But even the governor's maps would maintain a Republican majority.
It's likely that that would be the case in a neutral political environment.
In a strong year for Democrats, they would have a shot at the majority, and that's true
of the most redistricting proposals that I've seen.
Because of the way Republicans are geographically distributed, they would tend to win a majority
in a neutral political environment, so Democrats would have to hope for a strong political
context for their party, the overall political conditions, and they'd also need to hope for
strong candidates, as well as robust fundraising in order to win the majority.
Why would Raman Voss agree to the governor's map?
I think it just reflects the fact that Speaker Voss is short on options at this point.
If we think about the Wisconsin state Supreme Court, they are on path to enact a new district
maps for the November 2024 election.
I don't think a U.S. Supreme Court challenge is likely to succeed, at least it seems like
a long shot.
So I think Speaker Voss is looking at the process going through the Wisconsin state Supreme
Court, thinking about the probability that the U.S. Supreme Court could weigh in.
I think people in the capital are pricing all of that in, and making strategic adjustments
accordingly.
Alright.
Thanks very much.
Thank you.
So what did you think of that one?
Are you still reading it?