From GOP Rep. Thad McCotter’s hopeless campaign for his party’s presidential nomination to two Detroit Democrats’ decision to trade districts, Michigan is home to some of the more unusual House politics of 2012. But Republicans are poised to accomplish what they set out to do: ensure that Michigan’s loss of a House seat in reapportionment comes out of the Democratic column, while protecting the state’s nine GOP incumbents. On August 9, GOP Gov. Rick Snyder signed a new map into law that gravely endangers the career of Democratic Rep. Gary Peters.
Democrats, not surprisingly, are upset with the new map and say some of the more curiously configured districts in the Detroit area violate the state’s compact redistricting traditions. In particular, they say the manner in which Republican state lawmakers redrew both the 11th and 14th CDs (featuring a double-cross of Eight Mile Road) to achieve their political aims was illegal. Republicans counter that what they did was necessary to ensure compliance with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and with the GOP in charge of the state Supreme
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