Congressional Redistricting in Michigan: Playing Musical Chairs in 2012

by: Neon Vincent

Sat Dec 25, 2010 at 01:02:59 AM EST

Bid the above map farewell.  In 2012, that map will look very different, as it will have one fewer congressional district.

As Jack Lessenbery explained on Michigan Radio:

Well, we finally have the official census figures, and for the first time in history, Michigan lost people in the course of a decade. Worse, we'll have fewer members of Congress.

Last week's political news from Michigan's universities

by: Neon Vincent

Mon Sep 27, 2010 at 12:54:29 PM EDT

The most time-sensitive piece of news comes first.

Michigan State University: MSU to participate in national conversation about teaching careers

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State University students interested in becoming teachers will engage in a nationally televised conversation about the teaching profession with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Sept. 27.

MSU is one of only four institutions across the country selected to participate in the MSNBC broadcast live from their campuses. The university's College of Education is known for its high-quality teacher preparation program, and U.S. News & World Report recently ranked MSU No. 1 in the nation for elementary and secondary education for a 16th straight year.

"We are pleased the Department of Education and NBC News recognize Michigan State University as a leader when it comes to preparing teachers to meet the challenges in our nation's schools," said President Lou Anna K. Simon. "The broadcast will give our students a tremendous opportunity to contribute to a national forum on the importance of teaching."

Participating students will be able to ask questions directly during the 2 p.m. program, which includes a special address from Duncan encouraging more young people to explore careers in education early in their college years. The one-hour special will be hosted by Tom Brokaw.

Only an hour-and-a-half for any Spartans or others in East Lansing to attend.  The rest of us can watch on tonight's news.

Now, on to Michigan election news.

Western Michigan University: Only a few days remain to register to vote

KALAMAZOO--With the Oct. 4 deadline to register to vote rapidly approaching, Western Michigan University is again making voter information easier to find with a Web page aimed at increasing political participation among students and the general public.

Elections are being held throughout Michigan Tuesday, Nov. 2, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The voter information page provides links to online answers for questions such as, "Where do I vote?" and "How do I get an absentee ballot?"

The deadline to register to vote in this year's general election is Monday, Oct. 4, which is also the deadline for changes of address or other information on voter registrations.

If any of you have political news from any of the rest of our state's universities, or just want to describe your volunteering efforts, please share in the comments.

More political news from Michigan's fine public universities plus some bonus national political coverage after the jump.

An Early Look at 2010 State Senate Races

by: Menhen

Thu Jul 09, 2009 at 14:24:36 PM EDT

Then I give the 2008 Presidential Result in that District. Remember that the 2008 resutl is sort of a "High Water Mark" here.  Note that I didn't calculate the Presidential Vote for the 5 Detroit districts because this would require going precinct by precinct which would have taken days.  They are all at least 80% Obama, many are more than 90% Obama.

I then included all of the announced candidates for the races, with links to their websites or sources.  I then list potential candidates for each race, usually State Representatives or other local officeholders.  Finally, I offer a Charlie Cook style rating: Safe, Likely, Leans or Tossup.  The Senator's name links to their website, where you can find a map of his or her district.

I'd appreciate any input that anyone here at Michigan Liberal has, whether I missed an announced candidate, or a potential candidate, or you disagree with my analysis, post it in the comments and I'll update my diary to reflect that.

I realize that this is a lot of text, so for those who don't want to read the entire thing, I added all my ratings seperately at the bottom of the diary.

Swing State Project: Redistricting Michigan

by: kelster

Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 08:35:34 AM EDT

From  ArkDem at Swing State Project:

Below, in three parts, I am going to display the piece of redistricting that I am most proud of so far, Michigan. I might have settled for less than some people, but I can make a guarantee; I guarantee you that under this map Thadeus McCotter is screwed six ways from Sunday, and that Democrats will have too, reliable, if swingish, western Michigan seats, and that a 10-4 delegation is tough, but fair seeing the direction Michigan has been trending the past two decades.

What do you think, Michiganders? 

Redistricting Michigan 2012

by: Menhen

Sat May 23, 2009 at 11:26:57 AM EDT

Lately there has been a lot of Debate over the number of Democratic Congressional Districts that Democrats could gerrymander out of the state of Michigan if they had complete control (right now they hold the Governorship and State House.  They stand a good chance at taking control of the State Senate while the Governor's race is a tossup).  A few people have said that it is possible to succesfully draw a map that would yield 12 Democratic seats and only 2 Republican seats.  I've been trying for several weeks to draw a 12-2 map, meanwhile protecting endangered incumbents (specifically Schauer) and I've determined that a 12-2 map would be far overeaching and in a neutral or Republican leaning year might end up 9-5 or worse. I think the best Michigan Democrats could do is create 11 safe or Democrat leaning districts and 3 strongly Republican districts.  I've drawn a map that I think does just that, although I still am not entirely confident that we could hold both of my "Thumb" districts in a Republican year.  But without further ado, here's my map.

Meadows v Brewer: the ballot proposal

by: liberalpragmatist

Sat Jul 26, 2008 at 18:10:11 PM EDT

Read below, and i will go thru some background and explanations -