Plaintiffs say redrawn Michigan maps have destroyed voting bloc but Democratic colleagues call effort Republican ‘power grab’
A lawsuit brought by Black Democrats who partnered with Republican attorneys has undone Michigan’s first independently drawn legislative maps, in a development some other Democrats have labeled a GOP “power grab”.
Republicans for decades controlled all or part of the state legislature, and developed districts that a judge in 2019 characterized as a “gerrymander of historical proportions”. Democrats in 2022 took control of the state government for the first time in over 40 years after a nonpartisan independent redistricting commission implemented more balanced maps.
But a Republican-majority panel of federal district court judges appointed by a Republican circuit court judge ruled in early January that the maps diluted Black voting power and were drawn based on race, thus splitting communities that would otherwise vote in a bloc.
Several Michigan Democrats who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to publicly criticize members of their party expressed dismay because a Republican judiciary now controls the redrawing process, and they fear the new maps will be more favorable to the GOP.
So I searched a few of these names. One of them did run as a democrat, but lost in the primary. Otherwise, so far as I can tell, these are just random black people who are calling themselves democrats. So I’m unsure why this is terribly surprising.
[Edit: should have read the article, one of the people is a Democrat lawmaker]
So for those that aren’t familiar with this and don’t read articles.
- Michigan passed an ammendment to have districts decided by a separate panel made up of citizens with a mix of republican, democrat, and independent voters.
- This panel has been a shit show, with poor attendance, delivered maps way behind schedule, and went over budget due to the increased time.
- the panel’s proposed maps eliminated “majority minority” districts in Detroit. They also shifted the projected make up of the state from moderately republican leaning to slight to moderate democrat leaning.
- This has pissed off both parties, republicans have had several failed attempts to block the maps. Black democrats are also mad because they lost their guaranteed seats.
most humans have a price
