Revised Senate maps for Michigan await final court approval

As mail-in ballots are being delivered to Michigan residents, a legal battle is raging over whose interests should carry representative weight in the redistricting process. The focus of this debate is six Senate districts in the state.

A group of southeast Michigan voters filed a lawsuit claiming that maps drawn by the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission amounted to racial gerrymandering. The court agreed and ordered the commission to draw up new maps. The newly drawn maps for the state’s Senate districts now await final court approval.

Map changes for this year’s election are already complete. The changes just filed in court will matter in the 2026 election, but they provide a glimpse into the contentious process behind the state’s first citizen-led redistricting.

We discussed the details of the lawsuit and the new maps with reporters Colin Jackson and Clara Hendrickson.

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GUESTS OF TODAY’S SHOW:

• Clara Hendrickson, Political reporter for the Detroit Free Press
• Colin Jackson, Reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network