Legislative report

Reapportionment and Redistricting

 

On June 16, 2011 State Senator Joseph Hune (R-Hamburg) introduced a redistricting bill that redraws the district lines for state legislative seats.  Also on June 16^th State Representative Peter Lund (R-Shelby Twp.) introduced a reapportionment bill that redraws the district lines for Michigan’s Congressional delegation.  Due to a loss in population, the bill also eliminated a Congressional seat for Michigan, which brings the Michigan U.S. House delegation down to 14 seats.   

 

State Senate

The Michigan Senate’s new lines make some of the districts slightly more competitive, including in Saginaw, the U.P., and Kalamazoo.  The majority of my current district will be in the new 4^th Senate District.  The boundary of the new 4^th State Senate district is approximately: the northern border of the District is 8 Mile Road.  The eastern border is Van Dyke Avenue.  The western border is Wyoming Avenue.  The southern border is at McNichols Road. 

 

There is an extension that runs south along Livernois Road and follows the Dearborn border and goes to Southwest Detroit.  Finally, the new 4^th Senate District includes the cities of Southgate, Lincoln Park and Allen Park, which were formally part of the 8^th Senate District.

 

State House

The Republicans control every step in the redistricting and reapportionment process, from State House, Senate, governor’s office, and the Michigan Supreme Court.

 

The Michigan House Republicans initially produced a map that eliminated two state representative seats (due to population loss) from the city of Detroit and had many Detroit legislators running against each other.  Due to a breakdown in negotiations between House Democrats and Republicans, better maps that would have avoided costly primaries and better represented people in Detroit were not created.

 

Congressional District 14

The map that Republicans created for the new 14^th Congressional district is outrageous and clear gerrymandering. It absorbs Southwest Detroit, goes to the Grosse Pointes and runs along 8 Mile to Inkster Rd.  It then goes into Oakland County and picks up many communities that have not traditionally been part of the 14^th, including Oak Park, Southfield, Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield, and Pontiac. 

 

In the 11^th hour I was asked by Congressman Conyers to assist him in creating districts that better serve Wayne and Oakland counties.  After many days and numerous staff hours, we created maps that Congressmen Conyers and Hansen Clarke were comfortable with and would better serve both counties. 

 

I introduced an amendment to alter the Republican maps but was only able to obtain seven votes, six Democrats and one Republican.  There is a possibility that Democrats could take any of these maps to court as a violation of the Voting Rights Act.