FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 11, 2021

Contact: Representative Supreme Moore Omokunde (608-266-5580)

Rep. Moore Omokunde: “No to Republican gerrymandering, AB624 and AB625”

MADISON – Today, the Wisconsin State Legislature voted to pass AB624 and AB625, GOP-introduced legislation to redraw maps as part of the legislative and congressional redistricting process. Both bills passed along party lines, 60-38.

“Today I voted ‘NAY’ on the GOP gerrymander that is Assembly Bills 624 and 625,” said Representative Moore Omokunde (D-Milwaukee). “As regards this GOP political football, I call ‘flag on the play.’ In the NFL, taunting is a 15 yard penalty, but the penalty faced by the people of Wisconsin today is another 10 years of illegal, gerrymandered maps that fly in the face of the Voting Rights Act. I believe firmly in an independent map-drawing process: the clearest path to Fair Maps is through that process. AB624 and AB625 are the antithesis of an independent process.”

Additionally, Legislative Republicans pushed a vote on a GOP-introduced amendment to AB624. This vote was on the People’s Maps Commission’s maps, which failed by a vote of 77-21.

Continued Rep. Moore Omokunde, “I also voted ‘NAY’ on the People’s Maps Commission amendment. Now, I wholeheartedly support Fair Maps – but any Fair Map in the state of Wisconsin must adhere to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. My concerns today arise with the *process* that the People’s Maps Commission utilized to arrive at their final proposed maps, a process that didn’t give near enough consideration to race, representation, and the Voting Rights Act. I will always stand for the representation of Black people at all levels of government. We must have a fair say at the table and I will not vote for any maps that fail to protect the interests of the Black community.

That said, I also believe that the vote on this amendment was called in tremendously bad faith. I urge my Republican colleagues to stop listening to state party bosses and start doing what’s best for their constituents and for the state of Wisconsin.”

Representative Moore Omokunde represents the 17th Assembly District on the North and Northwest sides of Milwaukee.

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