Sec. of State Jocelyn Benson
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has reached a proposed settlement agreement in a lawsuit over partisan gerrymandering that would redraw at least 11 state House districts in time for 2020.
The agreement represents a compromise with the League of Women Voters and Democratic lawmakers who filed suit over what they alleged were excessively partisan electoral maps drawn by Republicans in 2011. Benson's proposal, which comes after word of a possible settlement drew sharp criticism from the GOP, leaves the state Senate and Congressional maps unchanged.
The Detroit News reports:
The Detroit Democrat said the settlement was narrowed to cover just state House seats because she wanted to minimize “upheaval” while recognizing her view the Constitution had been violated by partisan gerrymandering.
Republicans have a 58-52 advantage in the state House after losing six seats in the 2018 election.
The deal would require redrawing “just the most 11 egregious state House districts” challenged in the federal lawsuit ... “It does not matter to me who or what parties drew the districts," she said. "What matters to me is whether they were drawn to circumvent the will of the voters.”
A redraw of the state Senate map would have required some lawmakers to run for re-election two years early.
Zach Gorchow, editor of state politics website Gongwer, says on Twitter that House districts that could swing as a result of a redraw include suburban Muskegon and suburban Saginaw. But Republicans will likely have a hand in drawing the new lines, as they remain in control of the Legislature and the non-partisan redistricting proposal that passed last fall doesn't go into effect until 2022.
Benson's proposal will have to be approved by a three-judge panel.
