Abstract
In 2018 Michigan voters passed a constitutional amendment creating a bipartisan redistricting commission. Support for this amendment reflected frustration with maps that cemented Republican control of state government despite more Democratic than Republican votes cast statewide for all Michigan’s U.S. Congressional seats. Voters were promised more competitive elections with a commission drawing the maps. We use primary and general election data from the 2022 elections to determine what, if any, impacts Michigan’s Redistricting Commission maps have on the state’s elections for US Congress. Our results demonstrate that Michigan’s new map, which was drawn with greater compactness than previous maps, also produced fairer and more competitive elections. Those results contrast favorably not only with Michigan’s electoral history, but also with the experiences of other states where maps were drawn under partisan circumstances.
Arvind Salem (Detroit, MI, USA) has contributed to this chapter along with the authors.
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Sarbaugh-Thompson, M., Thompson, L. (2023). The Maiden Voyage of Michigan’s Redistricting Commission. In: Wilson, W.C., Foreman, S.D., Godwin, M.L. (eds) The Roads to Congress 2022. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42749-7_6
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