Donovan defeats Bird in Assembly District 61

MILWAUKEE – Republican state Rep. Bob Donovan defeated Democrat LuAnn Bird in the race for Wisconsin’s 61st State Assembly District.

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Donovan currently represents the 84th State Assembly District, but new legislative district maps place him in a district that fellow Republican Amanda Nedweski currently represents.

Nedewski now wants to represent the 32nd District under the new maps. Republican Chuck Wichgers, who currently represents the 82nd State Assembly District, will face Democrat Zach Roper for the 84th District seat that Donovan currently holds.

Bird lost to Donovan in the 2022 race for the 84th State Assembly District. She won the August partisan primary for the upcoming general election without a challenger.

New district maps

Gov. Tony Evers signed new wisconsin legislative district maps passed into law in February. Those maps – used for the Wisconsin Senate and Wisconsin Assembly races – are ready for the November elections.

Democrats tried for more than a decade without success to undo the maps drawn up by Republicans. In December 2023, the Wisconsin The Supreme Court – which had switched to a liberal majority of justices – ruled that the existing maps were unconstitutional.

Evers, a Democrat, proposed the maps that are now law. Republicans who control the state legislature the cards are over to prevent the liberal-controlled Supreme Court from drawing the lines.

Heading into the election, Republicans have a supermajority in the Wisconsin Senate. They are also very close to a supermajority in the General Assembly, where they have a majority of 30 seats.