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The Supreme Court cleared the way on Thursday for South Carolina to keep using a congressional map that a lower court had deemed an unconstitutional racial gerrymander that resulted in the bleaching of African American voters from a district.

The conservative majority, by a 6-to-3 vote, returned the case to the lower court, handing a victory to Republicans by allowing them to maintain boundaries that helped make the district in question a party stronghold.

The immediate effect of the ruling will be limited, as the courts delay in ruling had already ensured that this years elections would take place under the contested map. But the majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., will have an impact beyond South Carolina in the years to come, said Richard L. Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Justice Alito for a court majority has once again come up with a legal framework that makes it easier for Republican states to engage in redistricting to help white Republicans maximize their political power, Professor Hasen said.

The ruling was the latest in a series of closely divided decisions on elections that are a distinctive element of the work of the court led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., including ones that have amplified the role of money in politics, made it easier to restrict voting and exempted partisan gerrymandering from review in federal court.

The trend is not entirely uniform, as the court ruled last year that Alabama lawmakers had diluted the power of Black voters in drawing a congressional voting map. But the overall pattern has been to limit the oversight of elections by Congress and the federal courts, often in ways that have benefited Republicans.

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Supreme Court Sides With Republicans Over South Carolina Voting Map - The New York Times

Wisconsin Republicans called for unity in their party during their annual state convention in Appleton over the weekend, calling it necessary to win federal and state elections.

The state convention comes less than two months before the Republican National Convention is set to be held in Milwaukee. Over the weekend in Appleton, state Republican leaders highlighted the central role that abortion, early voting and other issues will likely play in 2024 elections.

Wisconsin State Treasurer John Leiber, who chaired the convention, said that unity will be key if Republicans are to compete to win this year. He noted that Wisconsins Supreme Court leans liberal, that the states governor is a Democrat, and the only branch left we have is the Legislature. He added that new maps will make it more difficult for Republicans to win.

This is not a time for us to argue with each other and debate the small differences, Leiber said. This is a time for us to recognize all the ways we agree with each other and all the ways we need to work together because everything is at stake in this election.

In an address to the convention, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said Democrats would seek to make the election a referendum on abortion. He called on Republicans to unite on the issue to help elect former President Donald Trump and other Republicans up and down the ballot.

Abortion will be a central issue in the 2024 election cycle, especially in Wisconsin where abortion was thought to be banned, and providers stopped offering the procedure, after Roe v. Wade was overturned and an 1849 law with only a life-of-the-mother exception went into effect. Last summer a judge ruled that the 1849 abortion law does not apply to abortion and Planned Parenthood resumed providing abortion services. But the decision is being appealed to the state Supreme Court.

While Democrats have united around a message of protecting abortion access, Wisconsins legislative cycle has emphasized Republicans division on the issue, with lawmakers disagreeing about the details of a potential abortion ban.

Our position is to protect life, Johnson said, adding that within the party theres a broad spectrum of views about what that means.

Johnson said that he supports the U.S. Supreme Courts Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision, which eliminated federal protections for abortion access and thrust decisions about laws on abortion back to the states. He said that he believes that life begins at conception, but said decisions about abortion should be made state by state.

Johnson noted that the issue has been divisive among Republicans and called it a profound moral issue that centers on the question at what point does society have the responsibility to protect life in the womb?

In the end, we have to win elections, Johnson said. If we dont win, the result will be abortion up til the moment of birth and infanticide.

Johnson also said Wisconsin as a battleground state will be crucial to fighting and defeating the ideology and policies of the radical left. Johnson, whose staff attempted to transfer fraudulent electoral votes for Trump improperly cast by Wisconsins Republican fake electors in 2020 to then-Vice President Mike Pence, said this year Wisconsins electoral votes need to go to Trump. He also said Republicans need to help businessman Eric Hovde unseat incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, retain six seats in the U.S. House and maintain strong majorities in the state Assembly and the state Senate.

During a panel discussion, Wisconsins five Republican congressmen covered a broad swath of issues including support for Israel, immigration and the economy but noted that voting issues and bolstering early voting among Republicans will be key to winning elections.

U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil praised Wisconsins recently adopted constitutional amendment that bans private funds that support election administration, which he called Zuckerbucks, and said there is also an opportunity for Wisconsin to ban noncitizen voting, which is extremely rare and already illegal. The comments come after the U.S. House Administration Committee, which Steil chairs, held a panel on the issue last week.

Steil said that lawmakers need to utilize every tool possible to help secure and bolster trust in elections.

Apart from securing elections, Steil also said Republicans will need to utilize every tool possible, including early voting, to win elections in the fall.

While Democrats plan out their path to taking control of the U.S. House of Representatives, which includes an attempt to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsins 3rd Congressional District, Republicans are working to keep control of the House.

Steil, who will face a Democratic challenger in the 1st Congressional District, said he doesnt love all of Wisconsins election laws, but they will need to utilize all of them, including early voting, to win elections in the fall.

If we want to win as Republicans, as conservatives, we need to use every legal tool in the toolkit to get the job done, and thats going to require people going out, voting early, banking the vote and driving up turnout in the state of Wisconsin, Steil said. Thats a tough truth for those of us that love voting on Election Day.

U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald also called Wisconsin the epicenter of politics and said it will certainly have an impact on who the next President of the United States is. He said that makes it imperative that Republicans work to generate massive turnout.

Fitzgerald pointed to Johnsons reelection in 2022 as an example for what needs to be replicated this year. He said Johnson was able to thread a needle and get just enough votes, specifically in the Fox Valley, to win. He added that Republicans have a responsibility and obligation to buy into state and county voter turnout programs to ensure people show up on Election Day.

Meanwhile, two of Wisconsins top state legislators emphasized the new challenges that Republicans will face in fighting to keep control of both chambers in the state Capitol.

Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) and Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) who is co-chair of the powerful Joint Finance Committee, criticized Democratic Gov. Tony Evers for his vetoes this legislative session and called for support as they work to keep control of the Legislature. Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) was absent from the convention due to a scheduling conflict according to WisPolitics.

LeMahieu noted that the state Senate met last week to pass several veto overrides. The effort was ultimately unsuccessful, but helped highlight Evers opposition to certain pieces of legislation, LeMahieu said. The veto override attempts included a bill Evers blocked because it limited environmental enforcement while allowing $125 million in state funds to be used to combat PFAS chemicals in local drinking water, as well as a bill that set limiting conditions on the use of $15 million to support medical services after hospitals closures in western Wisconsin.

Born and LeMahieu accused Evers of wanting to spend taxpayers money as he sees fit and not being willing to compromise. Evers has recently sued lawmakers over their refusal to release the funds.

Newsflash for the governor, we control the purse strings in Wisconsin, LeMahieu said. We will pass bills and if you dont like how were spending the money and you veto them, its on you that the moneys not getting spent.

Born said Republicans need to keep control of the Legislature to stop Wisconsin from taking the same path as other Democratic-led states.

We are the last line of defense, Born said. The Republican-led Legislature here in Wisconsin is the only thing keeping us from being Minnesota, Michigan and, quite frankly, California. Thats how far [Gov.] Tony Evers in this game wants to go.

Wisconsins new legislative maps will make races for and control of the Senate and Assembly more competitive than they have been in over a decade. Republicans have held control of both houses since 2011.

Its going to be a battle like most of us havent seen before, Born said.

Born said Republicans will be more challenged in keeping control because the new maps are more gerrymandered for the Democrats.

Democrats are taking the new maps as an opportunity to work towards flipping control of the Legislature in the next two election cycles. Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) has said that she thinks Democrats can flip the Assembly this year, and Democrats are working toward a goal of having a candidate running in all 99 districts.

Despite the new maps, Born said that Republicans will have the strongest candidates and the best message, but with so many more targeted seats Republicans are gonna need your contributions of money, were gonna need your contributions of word of mouth and, probably most of all, prayers.

Only half of the state Senate seats are up for election this year, but LeMahieu said Senate Republicans need to work to keep seats this year to protect against potential gains by Democrats in the next two election cycles.

In the Senate, we have a supermajority, a 22-11 advantage. That means that if we lose six seats, we are in the minority, LeMahieu said. That seems like a long ways away. Its not.

LeMahieu noted that there are seven Senate seats under the new maps with 50-50 electorates that Republicans currently control, and that four of those are up for election this year.

LeMahieu highlighted several of those, including the 14th district where Sen. Joan Ballweg is running for reelection and the 8th district where Sen. Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville) is running, saying that Republicans have good candidates who will need support to win. He said that he is still looking for a candidate to run in the 22nd district to challenge Sen. Bob Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie).

Were not going to lose the majority this year, but if we lose all of our seats this year Heaven forbid we do then in two years when the other half of the Senate is up, our other three seats are up, LeMahieu said. Its bad enough working with our liberal Supreme Court and our liberal governor. I dont want to be in the minority.

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Wisconsin Republicans emphasize need for unity at state convention Wisconsin Examiner - Wisconsin Examiner

Tamara Keith:

And this is very similar to language that many Republicans, including Mike Pence, landed on after the 2020 election and before January 6, where they didn't want to go all the way as far as Trump is going and say that the election was stolen, but they wanted to say, well, you should look into it.

And what they're saying here is, well, we will support the results if it's a fair election.

But it's worth noting that former President Trump really only thinks an election is fair if he wins. And I will just remind you that, after 2016, he won, and then he claimed that there was election there was voter fraud in California and New Hampshire because he didn't win those states.

So he is someone who has a very lengthy, proven track record of denying election results. And now you have Republicans out there, mainstream Republicans, creating sort of a permission structure, saying that, if it's fair, then maybe I will support the results. They're not willing to commit in advance.

And that creates a permission structure for mainstream Republican voters to say, well, if they're OK with this, then I can be OK with this.

Continued here:
Tamara Keith and Amy Walter on Republicans rallying around Trump at his trial - PBS NewsHour

House Republicans are pushing legislation to crack down on voting by noncitizens, part of an effort to sow doubts about the election outcome and take aim at immigrants who they say have no business participating in elections in the United States.

They are planning to push through a bill this week that would roll back a Washington, D.C., law allowing noncitizen residents of the nations capital to vote in local elections. And they are pushing legislation that would require states to obtain proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, in person when registering an individual to vote and require states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls.

Neither is likely to pass the Democratic-led Senate or be signed by President Biden, but both are ways for Republicans to call attention to their false claims of widespread illegal voting by noncitizens.

Former President Donald J. Trump has long claimed in the face of evidence to the contrary that presidential and congressional elections are susceptible to widespread voter fraud and illegal voting by undocumented immigrants who have skewed the outcomes in favor of Democrats a charge that House Republicans have echoed.

Here are the facts about noncitizen voting and the false claims that foreign nationals swing close elections in one partys favor.

There has long been a policy debate in the United States about whether voting rights should be afforded at the municipal level to foreign nationals regardless of immigration status, as most of them pay comparable levels of taxes to U.S. citizens, contribute to their local economies and send their children to local schools.

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Here's Why Republicans Are Focusing on Voting by Noncitizens - The New York Times

As the 2022 elections approached with some Republican Senate candidates on the ropes, Senator Mitch McConnell was already looking ahead to 2024. He saw opportunity in the person of Jim Justice, the popular Republican governor of West Virginia whose term would fortuitously for Mr. McConnell end in 2024.

Here we had a guy who was term-limited and who everybody assumed was going to just go off into the sunset, recounted Mr. McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and minority leader. But he had to-die-for numbers.

Mr. McConnell secretly flew to West Virginia on Oct. 19, 2022. Over lunch at Governor Justices home, he tried to interest him in running for Senate. In April 2023, Mr. Justice announced he would seek the seat held by Senator Joe Manchin III, probably the only Democrat with any chance of winning in super-red West Virginia.

In November, Mr. Manchin announced he would not seek re-election. Earlier this month, Governor Justice won his primary, putting him squarely on track to capture the Senate seat, which would leave Republicans just one seat shy of a majority.

Im pretty sure, barring some intervention, thats No. 50, said Mr. McConnell, referring to the number of seats his party would control if all went according to plan. Democrats would need to hold everything they now have in the 51-to-49 Senate or pick up a Republican seat to stay in the majority next year, he noted. Theyre left with trying to have a perfect score.

Though Mr. McConnell is stepping down from his leadership post in 2025 and is widely expected to retire when his term ends in 2027, he is determined to leave his successor with a majority in the Senate after heading his party in both the minority and the majority over almost 18 years. His personal effort to recruit Governor Justice was a central element of his plan.

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In Twilight of Senate Career, McConnell Sees 2024 Races as Last Hurrah - The New York Times