Redistricting Commission creates 48th district, State House will see new legislator

In one of the few races in the state that won't feature an incumbent, Democratic, Republican and Green party candidates will face off for the newly created 48th Michigan House District that covers parts of Livingston and Washtenaw counties.

The district includes Genoa and Hamburg townships, Pinckney and the southeast corner of Putnam Township. Those communities are currently represented by 42nd district State Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Township.

The 48th District also includes voters across northern Washtenaw County, which typically leans more Democratic. In Washtenaw County, the district includes Salem Township and northern Ann Arbor Township, as well as Northfield, Webster, Dexter and Lyndon townships. The district includes a small portion of northeast Jackson County.

First-time candidates Jennifer Conlin, an Ann Arbor Democrat, and Jason Woolford, a Howell Republican, will face off in the general election with Eric Borregard, a Green Party member from Dexter.

"I feel pretty good," Livingston County Democratic Party chairperson Judy Daubenmier said. "Jennifer's working very hard. She's working on many, many doors and talked to many voters and she's finding that large numbers of Republicans are saying they can't ... vote for the Republican Party and they'll be voting for her. This is a volatile climate and people have a lot of concerns that Jennifer will be very good at addressing when she's in Lansing."

Republican Party chairperson Meghan Reckling did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2018, Michigan voters passed the Independent Redistricting Commission Initiative (Proposal 2). In doing so, they created a process in which citizens — rather than legislators — draw the state’s legislative districts every 10 years. The goal was to reduce partisan gerrymandering.

The new districts, for the state House and Senate, and the U.S. House, are based on data from the 2020 Census.

Jennifer Conlin (D-Ann Arbor):

Conlin, has been a reporter for more than 30 years, working in New York and Washington, D.C., as well as in Europe, the Middle East. She returned to Michigan 12 years ago, working for the New York Times in Michigan. Last year, she was one of the first reporters to write about the Oxford school shooting.

"I was coming back from the candlelight vigil in the children's park and just thought, 'Oh my god, I had seen, I had never covered a story like that and I just saw what gun violence did to a community and it made me start to think," Conlin said. "I just thought, you know, I kind of want to do something more than this, than what I've been doing for the last 30 years. I wonder if there's any other way to help."

Shortly afterward, she learned about the newly drawn district and decided to run.

"As a reporter I'm really used to listening to different perspectives and the different sides of issues, digging deep into issues and I thought, you know, this district is going to require somebody who can represent everybody and can understand different sides of things," Conlin said.

Conlin is running on a number of different issues including, conservation, infrastructure, broadband, health care and schools.

"I'm really running on completely bipartisan issues because that is really what our district is and there's things we can all agree on and that just feels to me like the way to move forward," she said.

Jason Woolford (R-Howell):

Woolford has never run for public office, but said he has always had the desire. He said things are out of order.

"I sure paid attention to what's going on and more so in the last two years," Woolford said. "Running for office is not something I've always wanted to do. It is something that I felt that I have to do over the last two years and for me, as a citizen, a patriot, a Marine Corps veteran. What I have seen over the last two years, frightened me. We've seen it from the White House, church house and school house. When I see the freedoms who have been taken, I wanted to run to stand for them.

Woolford is running on a number of different issues, including his opposition to all three statewide proposals because they change the state constitution. He also says he wants to protect elections for both parties, honor the military and veterans, religious liberty and give power to the parents.

"I believe in religious liberty because I believe in that, that gives people the right, people like me who have worn a uniform and or served, give you the freedom to do and believe what you want and so that’s important to me," he said.

Eric Borregard (G-Dexter):

Borregard has run 10 times for public office in Michigan, starting in 1998 in the Reform Party as a state board of education candidate. Additionally, four years ago he ran for the 22nd Michigan State Senate District, losing the Republican Lana Thies.

"I knew the issues. I knew the district really well and it definitely needed an alternative to the people that get elected," he said.

According to Borregard, he's running on issues affecting the environment, economy and education.

"(I want to be a) voice for grassroots," Borregard said.

Other races affecting Livingston County include:

7th U.S. House District

• Elissa Slotkin D-Holly

• Tom Barrett R-Lansing

• Leah R. Dailey Libertarian-South Lyon

22nd Michigan State Senate District

• Jordan Genso D-Brighton

• Lana L. Theis R-Brighton

• Jon Elgas L-Brighton

• Victoria McCasey, US Taxpayers-Fenton

49th Michigan House District

• Christina M. Kafkakis D-Brighton

• Ann Bollin R-Brighton

50th Michigan House District

• Glen Miller D-Howell

• Robert J. Bezotte R-Howell

72nd Michigan House District

• Stacy Taylor D-Holly

• Mike Mueller R-Linden

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Newly drawn 48th district features race without incumbents