State legislative districts covering most of Detroit must be redrawn after a federal court ruled the political boundaries were improperly drawn on the basis of race.
A panel of judges sided with a group of Black Detroiters who argued political maps finalized by a newly-formed Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission in 2021 diluted Black representation. The ruling has major implications for the division of political power in Detroit – half of state House districts touching the majority-Black city (seven of 14) and all but two state Senate districts (six total) must be redrawn before future elections are held.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Dearborn, supported the legal effort to overturn metro Detroit districts that she described as brazenly inconsiderate of community cohesion. Tlaib, whose congressional district isn’t affected by the court ruling, said the redistricting commission tore apart minority-majority communities.
“I am 100% positive that my residents support a redistricting commission,” Tlaib said. “But they don’t support a commission that did not do their due diligence. They literally looked at the population amount, and they said ‘we’re done’ and moved on. That’s not doing your due diligence in regards to making sure that voices are not diluted.”
Democrats took control of the Michigan Legislature for the first time in nearly 40 years using new district lines drawn by the commission. Voters established the commission in 2018, wresting that power from the legislature amid concerns that previous maps had advantaged Republicans who dominated both chambers for decades.
Tlaib said that transfer of power came at the expense of Black voters in Detroit.
“Communities of interest were almost an afterthought in the process of redistricting,” Tlaib said Friday. “If you think about why no one fought against these maps, they thought this would get Democrats in control of the state House and Senate, or it would lead to more Democratic representation, which is not supposed to be the goal of an independent nonpartisan redistricting commission.”
Detroit-area lawmakers were slow to weigh in on how the landmark court ruling will affect the next round of elections. State representatives are back on the ballot in 2024 and state senate elections are planned for 2026. State Rep. Tyrone Carter, leader of the Detroit caucus, said candidates like himself who are running for reelection, and those who are still deciding whether to pursue political office, could find the ground shifting beneath their feet as new maps extend into unfamiliar communities.
“The question becomes: What’s next?” Carter said. “There will be some interesting redrawing of districts. What is fair and subjective and will it meet the judges’ decision to have them redrawn?”
Carter is among seven state House members whose Detroit districts must be redrawn under the ruling. Others include:
- House District 7, represented by Rep. Helena Scott, D-Detroit
- House District 8, represented by Rep. Mike McFall, D-Hazel Park
- House District 10, represented by House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit
- House District 11, represented by Rep. Veronica Paiz, D-Harper Woods
- House District 12, represented by Rep. Kimberly Edwards, D-Eastpointe
- House District 14, represented by Rep. Donavan McKinney, D-Detroit
Seven other House districts touching Detroit won’t change, creating a patchwork of areas that are off-limits when the new boundaries are drawn. Carter said it’s unclear how some districts can be redrawn without affecting others nearby.
State senate seats covering the vast majority of Detroit’s geography must also be redrawn, including:
- Senate District 1, represented by Sen. Erika Geiss, D-Taylor
- Senate District 3, represented by Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit
- Senate District 6, represented by Sen. Mary Cavanagh, D-Redford Township
- Senate District 8, represented by Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak
- Senate District 10, represented by Sen. Paul Wojno, D-Warren
- Senate District 11, represented by Sen. Veronica Klinefelt, D-Eastpointe
The three-judge panel will schedule a hearing in early January to determine a process for how the districts will be redrawn. It’s unclear whether the redistricting commission will be given another chance.
“I don’t know that it would be a good thing, given everything we’ve heard at this point, getting the (redistricting commission) back together,” Carter said. “How do we redraw the lines? What’s fair, because that’s such a subjective word. We have more questions than answers at this point.”
Adrian Hemond, CEO of the Lansing-based consulting firm Grassroots Midwest, said the filing deadline for the regular elections is at the end of April and the federal courts are reluctant for the State of Michigan to move it to “clean up this mess.”
“That’s the first thing we know. The second thing is two special elections are scheduled to happen in pretty short order, where the filing deadline has already passed,” he said. “That has to be sorted out quickly. Neither of the two district special elections scheduled were ordered to be redrawn, but they do border districts that were.”
Many details have yet to be sorted out, but the court decision will be appealed, Hemond said, and that will be expedited due to the upcoming filing deadline for regular elections.
“Whoever ends up redrawing this needs to decide whether they want to try to limit the impact to just the districts ordered to be redrawn or as close to it as possible,” Hemond said. “Or if it is necessary to redraw a major portion of the Southeast Michigan map. “A lot of which approach is taken is going to fall on who ends up redrawing (the districts).”
Hemond said the commission was found by the federal court to have “engaged in unconstitutional, racial gerrymandering.” That doesn’t leave a lot of confidence in its ability to redraw the boundaries.
Another “bad option,” he said, is the appointment of a special master to “unilaterally” decide the new boundaries.
“From a democracy perspective, that sucks. It’s probably the fastest and the cleanest,” he said. “Then the question becomes ‘who is the person going to be and what approach are they going to take in terms of how wide a redraw spreads.’ They are very unappealing options.”
Hemond said it’s likely the situation will also be bad for voter turnout, but also for election operations in general. It’s confusing for voters, clerks and election workers who have to administer elections under the cloud of uncertainty, he said.
Daniel Baxter, chief operating officer overseeing absentee voting and special projects for the Detroit City Clerk’s office, said local officials will bear the brunt of informing voters about the incoming changes. Baxter said expanded early voting and new requirements for a web-based tracking system of absentee ballots will already put strain on election departments in 2024.
Baxter said the Detroit Elections Department mailed half a million absentee ballot applications to every registered voter announcing the February presidential election.
Baxter said he’s also focused on ensuring the new maps are drawn using voting precinct lines created by the city. There are roughly 400 voting precincts in Detroit, he said. The precincts are like puzzle pieces that the commission must keep intact.
“The most important thing is, whenever those legislative boundaries are passed down to the city, is to make sure all of our precincts fall in line with the new boundaries,” Baxter said.
BridgeDetroit Engagement Director Orlando P. Bailey contributed
Detroit needs a Black representative!