From the Daily Tribune
But 10 years ago in Michigan, Republicans controlled the state House, Senate and governor’s office, and they drew the current district boundaries to their liking with little risk of legal challenge to their map.
That’s not the case this year, when Democrats control the state House and governor’s office, and Republicans control the state Senate.
And that’s why state legislative races have gotten a lot of attention this year.
A split in control of the House and Senate means the courts likely will decide on a redistricting plan, as was the case 20 years ago, making election to the state’s courts an election priority this year, too.
In Michigan and across the country, the outcome of state legislative races could well determine the makeup of Congress in the 2012 election and beyond.
For certain, Michigan stands to lose one of its congressional seats this year, not because the state has lost so much in population over the past decade – it has lost a little – but because other states have grown so much faster.
“Michigan has lost population,” Patterson said. “When I started, there were 19 congressional seats, I think we’re going down now to 14.”
Control of the state Legislature could influence whether Michigan’s remaining congressional seats lean toward the Democrats or toward the Republicans.