Sarah Anthony, State Representative for Michigan's 68th district, greets the crowd during the Women’s March On Lansing 2020 on Jan. 18, 2020, hosted by the Blue Brigade.
On Tuesday, Dec. 28 the Michigan Redistricting Commission approved of three new maps for Michigan’s legislative district. This is the first time the Redistricting Commission has drawn the maps—before, the districts were drawn by the state legislatures, which led to issues over gerrymandering.
The Commission approved of the “Linden” map for the state Senate, the “Hickory” map for the state House and the “Chestnut” map for the congressional districts.
Here is a layout of how this will affect any residents of East Lansing and Michigan State students who are registered to vote in East Lansing.
Congressional District
Currently, East Lansing is a part of the 8th Congressional District and is represented by Rep. Elissa Slotkin. Under the new Chestnut map, East Lansing will be a part of the 7th Congressional District.
The current 8th district had much of Ingham County and the county to the east, Livingston as well as some of Oakland. The soon-to-be 7th District contains much of the tri-county area of Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties, along with some of Livingston County.
Slotkin has announced she will run in this district. State Sen. Tom Barrett will likely be the Republican challenger.
State Senate
MSU was represented by State Sen. Curtis Hertel as a part of the 23rd State Senate district. Now, while most students will be in the new 28th State Senate district, students who live west of Pennsylvania Avenue will be a part of the state Senate District 21.
So far, only Democrat Robert Kull has filed as a candidate for state Senate District 28. Former East Lansing Mayor and State Rep. Sam Singh said he would run for District 28. State Rep. Sarah Anthony, who announced a run for state Senate in September 2021, said she would run in District 21.
State House
Formerly, MSU’s campus was a part of state House District 68, a seat that Anthony held. The “Hickory” map draws the line for the District 73 and 75 districts along Grand River Avenue, dividing MSU’s campus into the 73rd and the off-campus students and the rest of East Lansing into the 75th.
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