Federal judges approve new state Senate map after court-ordered redraw

DETROIT — A federal judicial panel on Friday signed off on a redrawn state Senate political map that was reworked after judges ruled in December that six Detroit-area districts were unconstitutional because they were drawn on the basis of race.

The record indicates the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission drew the map "race-blind" in compliance with the December court order, federal judges Raymond Kethledge, Paul Maloney and David Lawson wrote Friday.

"Federal law provides us no basis to reject the commission's remedial Senate plan," the order said. "The secretary of state may proceed to implement the commission's remedial Senate plan for the next cycle."

Members of the redistricting commission celebrated the decision and the closure of the case in a press conference Friday.

“I think we have done a good job of giving the citizens of Michigan a fair, nonpartisan map that they can have complete confidence in,” Commissioner Donna Callaghan said Friday.

With the closure of the case Friday, the redistricting commission is likely to go into dormancy sometime in fiscal year 2025, only to be reconvened ahead of 2030 if or when additional litigation challenging the map is filed.

The total cost of the litigation still is unknown. The commission is working out the cost of plaintiffs’ attorney costs, court fees and the price of hiring two special masters to assist with the redraw process after the court ordered the panel to foot the bill.

The initial Detroit-area Senate districts had been criticized as "spoke-like" gerrymanders that stretched from Black-majority Detroit to Whiter suburbs, having the effect of diluting the Black vote in Detroit and making it difficult for Black people to get a candidate of choice through the primary process.

The federal judicial panel sided with challengers and ruled that the redistricting commission relied too heavily on race in drawing the maps, a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The new map sought to remedy those concerns by breaking up the long, bacon-like districts that stretched from Detroit over 8 Mile and into the suburbs, into squatter shapes that cross over 8 Mile — the boundary between Wayne and Oakland and Macomb counties — with less frequency.

The maps also created two new majority-Black districts, up from zero majority-minority districts in the old maps. Those districts encompass the east side of Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park in the 3rd Senate District and parts of northwest Detroit and Redford Township in the 6th Senate District.

Judges noted in their Friday order that the redrawn map had gone through several rounds of public comment and was not objected to by the plaintiffs who sought the redraw.

The new map will be used for the Senate's next election in 2026.

The redistricting commission completed a separate redraw of Detroit-area House districts earlier this year. That new map is being using the upcoming state House primary on Aug. 6 and in the general election in November.

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