Governor Rick Snyder has approved measures that redraw Michigan’s legislative and congressional districts. The new maps were approved by the Legislature’s Republican majorities in an intensely partisan battle. But this may not be the final word on the state’s new district maps.
Michigan loses a congressional seat in the new maps to reflect the loss of population in the most recent census. The new lines throw at least two incumbent Democrats into the same district.
Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer says he hoped the governor might send the maps back to the Legislature for being too partisan and eliminating minority districts.
“Now that he has not done that, that he has signed these very partisan maps, we’ll take a look at our options.”
Those could include filing a civil rights complaint with the U-S Justice Department, a federal court challenge, or asking the Republican-led Michigan Supreme Court to reject the maps. The governor’s press secretary Sara Wurfel says that’s expected.
“They’re going to challenged. That’s just how redistricting typically works.”
Wurfel says the maps were carefully reviewed by the governor’s legal team.
