By Eric Rader
Speak Out
Across the country this year, state legislatures are engaged in the process of congressional redistricting. Every ten years, following the constitution-mandated federal census, most states have to create new district boundaries for U.S. House members to account for the population changes that occurred during the previous decade. The Constitution established the House of Representatives as the institution of government closest to the people, with representation in the chamber based on the population of the state. At one time, many southern states used the redistricting process as a way to disenfranchise African-American voters. In the early 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that malapportionment was unconstitutional, and established the principle that one person should equal one vote.
While voting equality is supposed to guide states as they create new districts, the reality is that the redistricting process is often very politically biased. Though some states have created nonpartisan commissions to redraw their boundaries, most states, including Michigan, assign this task to committees in the state legislature. After the plan is approved the legislature, the governor decides whether to approve or reject the redistricting plan for the state. Thus, whichever political party controls the levers of power in a state also has a big say in what the partisan makeup of the districts will be for the next ten years. In Michigan, this means that the Republican Party, which controls both houses of the legislature and the governor's office, has free rein to decide what our districts will look like through 2022. Michigan's overall population declined from 2000-2010, meaning that we are losing one of our 15 districts. This means that at least one of Michigan's current U.S. representatives will lose his or her seat in Congress next year.
Unfortunately, the Republican majorities in the Michigan Legislature have approved a redistricting plan that divides Democrats in the metro Detroit region, and strengthens Republicans around the state. Because districts must be contiguous, the GOP majority had to find creative ways to reduce the political power of Democrats in various places. Perhaps the most egregious example of political gerrymandering in the plan approved by the legislature is Michigan District 14, currently represented by veteran legislator John Conyers, D-Detroit, where the new lines snake their way from Detroit over to Farmington, then up to Pontiac. This district makes no geographic sense, and completely violates the principle that a member of Congress should be as close as possible to the people he or she represents. Elsewhere in our region, the GOP plan puts LGBT-equality representatives Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak, and Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Hills, in the same district, effectively ending the congressional career of one of these dedicated public servants.
In recent years, the U.S. House has seen a lot of legislative activity around LGBT issues. When the Democrats held the majority in the House from 2007-2011, they passed hate crimes legislation and repealed the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Democrats in the House also attempted to pass the Employment Nondiscrimination Act and repeal the "Defense of Marriage Act," though GOP obstructionism prevented further action on these bills. Once the Republicans gained control of the House in 2011, they committed themselves to legally defending DOMA, after the Obama administration declared that it would no longer defend discrimination in court. Republicans have no desire to pass any legislation that would extend equal rights to the LGBT community.
There may not be much that can be done to prevent the Republican redistricting plan in Michigan from becoming law, because Gov. Snyder supports the legislature's decision. Assuming the plan is approved, some groups may go to court to ask the judiciary to overturn these unfair and unrepresentative districts. It appears likely, however, that Michigan's Republican-dominated Supreme Court would sustain these districts. Therefore, LGBT political participation in next year's elections for Congress is critical. While right-wing interests may win the redistricting battle, the ultimate deciders of actual elections are the voters.
No matter what the districts look like next year, we all have an interest in supporting people who will advance equal rights in the years ahead. Though Republicans controlled the last redistricting process in Michigan in 2001, Democrats were still able to make substantial gains in the 2006 elections, with much of their support coming from the LGBT community. Progressives can win in gerrymandered districts, but only if our community stays active in the upcoming campaign. We need to remind people how radical the Republican leadership of the U.S. House is today, and how important it is to vote. When we stay home, we lose, and there's simply too much at stake in the 2012 elections to let that happen.
Contact Gov. Snyder — ask him to re-consider his support for the Republican redistricting plan: [email protected], 517-373-3400.
Proposed Michigan legislative districts (U.S. House and Michigan House and Senate):
http://download.gannett.edgesuite.net/detnews/2011/pdf/redistrictmap.pdf
