Letter to the Editor: Redraw Fair Maps

There’s a Washington joke about what to name the local NFL football team. How about the Gridlocks? There may be many reasons for government gridlock, but one important factor in many states such as Wisconsin is the gerrymandering that’s done so precisely these days by computers.

With districts drawn to favor one party, primary winners are ensured a job in Washington or Madison before the general election is even held. Special interests can exert more influence on legislation because their money will go much further in a primary. The people who vote in primaries are fewer in number but more strongly attached to ideology. They tend to view legislators who compromise negatively, so legislators who work with the opposite party to compromise are more likely to be punished in the next primary. 

Let’s stop gerrymandering so things get done in Washington and Madison and redraw fair maps. And who knows when Washington will have a name for its NFL team?

Edward Greene

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin