Will Wisconsin state lawmakers get more done with a more evenly divided Legislature?

When Wisconsin state legislators return to the Capitol for its next session come January, the balance of power will be slightly different than it was a few months ago.

While Republicans still hold control of both chambers of the Wisconsin State Legislature, Democrats were able to shrink those majorities In the Nov. 5 election. Democrats gained 10 additional seats in the state Assembly, moving the balance of the chamber from a 64-34 Republican majority, to a more evenly split 54-45 Republican majority. In the state Senate, Democrats gained four seats, changing Republicans’ supermajority of 22-10 to a simple majority of 18-15.

It was the first election with the state’s new legislative maps that were drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and agreed upon by Republican lawmakers after longtime Republican-gerrymandered maps were thrown out by the Wisconsin Supreme Court last year.

But what does this mean for one of the least productive state legislatures in the country?

“It does raise the interesting question: Is there going to be more bipartisanship? And there might be, based on the slimmer majorities that Republicans have,” University of Wisconsin-La Crosse political science associate professor Anthony Chergosky told the Wisconsin Independent.

He said it will be harder for Republicans, who have enjoyed a lot of power in the two chambers for years, to advance their agenda now. While in the past Republican lawmakers could pass legislation even with opposition in their own party, he said now there will be less room for dissent if all Democrats are against a bill.

A large cloud hanging over all of this change, though, is the 2026 election cycle.

In 2026, all 99 of the state Assembly seats and the other half of the Senate seats will be up for grabs again, and Democrats have a realistic chance at winning a majority in at least one of the chambers. Wisconsin will also hold its gubernatorial election the same year, which is likely to be hotly contested.

Chergosky said the weight of those elections will loom over legislators for the next two years, inhibiting any real compromise. Legislators could try to introduce more messaging bills, he said. Those proposals are unlikely to pass, but they allow candidates to campaign on the other party’s opposition to the legislation.

After winning her uncontested race for Wisconsin’s Assembly District 62 in November, Angelina Cruz is hopeful she’ll bring an unjaded, fresh face to the Legislature at a time of change. The Democrat is a longtime educator and union leader in Racine, and she’ll represent a district previously held by a Republican under the old maps. She’s hopeful the new makeup of the Legislature will lead to more bipartisanship, and she said that she’ll bring her professional experience with finding common ground to the table.

“I think the voters have issued a mandate in terms of moving the state forward,” she told the Wisconsin Independent. “I think we’ve been under sort-of this regime of really regressive politics. And I think it’s clearly time for that to shift and to look at how we can do things that are going to positively impact people and make their lives easier.”

Chergosky said there may be some issues that lawmakers take action on given the new makeup of the Legislature, especially because the state will craft its next biennial budget in 2025. Because of this, it’s more likely that the two parties could come together to give each other something from their wishlists.

Two likely possibilities, Chergosky said, are Republicans’ tax cuts and Democrats’ requests for additional education funding, which Gov. Evers has made one of his signature issues as a former educator. The state’s $4.6 billion surplus could be a key bargaining chip in these negotiations, too, he said.

Chergosky said he’s also watching the issue of marijuana, since Republicans signaled last year that they’re open to making legal medical marijuana.

“It’s going to be an uneasy dance in these next two years, because everyone is well aware of the high stakes 2026 elections. Everyone is well aware that the parties are going to be maneuvering for advantage, but everyone is well aware that there is also essential stuff that needs to happen,” Chergosky said. “So it’s just going to be a dance, a very different one than we’ve had before, because of the new maps.”