Redistricting commission picks new Michigan Senate map for court review

Clara Hendrickson, Detroit Free Press
·4 min read

Michigan's redistricting commission selected a new state Senate map Wednesday for a federal three-judge panel to consider adopting after the court ruled that the group of mappers drew the current lines running through metro Detroit predominantly based on race.

Last year, the court struck down several metro Detroit state legislative districts in response to a lawsuit filed by voters in the districts that run through Michigan's largest city and one of the nation's largest majority-Black cities. The three-judge panel ordered the commission to redraw the maps and has already approved a new state House map drawn by the commission.

It will now consider whether to approve the commission's new state Senate map too.

The commission dubbed the map it wants the judges to consider "Crane A1". The proposed map emerged after multiple rounds of voting that spanned two days of commission meetings and saw the mappers weigh more than a dozen drafts.

After five rounds of voting failed to produce a map with the Democratic support needed to send one to the court, the commission moved to a round of ranked-choice voting in which each commissioner ranked the maps in order of preference. The "Crane A1" map received the highest ranking and achieved enough support from Democrats, Republicans and independent members serving on the commission.

At times during the voting process, the commission's deliberations devolved into infighting and extensive debates over which set of lines would best reflect metro Detroit communities with shared interests while avoiding any bias favoring one political party over another.

How many districts would the commission's map change?

The court ordered the commission to redraw six state Senate districts:

  • Senate District 1 currently represented by state Sen. Erika Geiss, D-Taylor

  • Senate District 3 currently represented by state Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit

  • Senate District 6 currently represented by state Sen. Mary Cavanagh, D-Redford Township

  • Senate District 8 currently represented by state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak

  • Senate District 10 currently represented by state Sen. Paul Wojno, D-Warren

  • Senate District 11 currently represented by state Sen. Veronica Klinefelt, D-Eastpointe

In addition to those districts, the commission also redrew eight other metro Detroit districts:

  • Senate District 2 currently represented by state Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit

  • Senate District 4 currently represented by state Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton

  • Senate District 5 currently represented by state Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia

  • Senate District 7 currently represented by state Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield

  • Senate District 9 currently represented by state Sen. Michael Webber, R-Rochester Hills

  • Senate District 13 currently represented by state Sen. Rosemary Bayer, D-West Bloomfield

  • Senate District 23 currently represented by state Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake

  • Senate District 24 currently represented by state Sen. Ruth Johnson, R-Holly

Were any incumbents drawn into the same district?

The map put forward by the commission did not draw together any incumbents eligible to seek reelection to the state Senate into the same district.

Is the redrawn Michigan Senate map fair?

In 2018 when Michigan voters adopted a constitutional amendment to wrest control of the redistricting process from state lawmakers and put the pen in the hands of a citizen-led commission, they created a requirement for the independent mappers to draw fair lines that wouldn't disproportionately benefit one political party. National redistricting experts deemed some of Michigan's previous districts among the most politically skewed in the country.

The commission considered four measures of partisan fairness to evaluate its map. On three of them, the map showed a slight bias in favor of Republicans and on the other measure, the map showed a slight bias in favor of Democrats.

An expert for the commission hired to evaluate the partisan fairness of the maps didn't raise any serious concerns about the maps the group considered. On two of the partisan fairness measures the commission considered, the new "Crane A1" they want the court to adopt would skew slightly more Republican than the current lines while reducing the GOP bias slightly on another measure.

Court approves new Michigan House map: New map approved ahead of election to decide which party controls chamber

What happens next?

The three-judge panel has given itself a July 26 deadline to approve a new state Senate map. Before it decides whether to adopt the revised map submitted by the commission, it will review a report from a court-appointed redistricting expert reviewing whether the commission's map addresses the constitutional violations found in the court order striking down several metro Detroit districts as illegally drawn based primarily on race.

The process for redrawing the state Senate map comes after the commission redrew several metro Detroit state House districts also struck down by the court. After the commission returned to the drawing board to adjust those districts, the court approved the commission's new state House map.

Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Court to weigh new Michigan Senate map after redraw