Redistricting Panel Advances Michigan Senate Map

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's redistricting commission on Monday voted 11-2 to advance a proposed map to the final stage of the process, approving state Senate lines that would be fairer to Democrats than those drawn by Republican lawmakers in the last two decades.

It was the first time the panel submitted a plan for the closing 45-day public comment period. It was unclear if commissioners may also offer an alternative Senate proposal later in the week or stick with one map.

The commission was created by voters in 2018 to handle the once-a-decade process of drawing congressional and legislative boundaries instead of the partisan Legislature.

The panel used a composite of the last 13 statewide races to show Democrats won 52% of votes while Republicans got 48%. Democrats could have a 20-18 edge in the Senate under such a scenario.

Due to 2011 gerrymandering, Republicans secured a 22-16 majority after the 2018 election despite Democrat Gretchen Whitmer winning the governorship by nearly 10 percentage points.

"It's a good map. I think it's a great map actually," said commissioner Anthony Eid, one of five members who affiliate with neither major party. "It supports communities of interest. It supports all of the (federal Voting Rights Act) considerations that we've been looking at. ... The composite scores of all 10 years of election history show that it's a fair map on accepted measures of partisan fairness."

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