Three days of deliberation and tweaking led to a ranked choice vote that saw the Crane map come out on top Wednesday, the last day of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission’s deliberations on a redrawn Southeast Michigan state senate map.
After two hours of public comment, and two final rounds of voting, the Crane A1, Kellom, Szetela version three, and Lange maps were selected to be eligible for the final ranked choice vote from commissioners. The Crane map took the top spot with 43 points, and was put forward by a Republican, Independent, and Democrat. The Szetela map took the second spot with 30 points. The Kellom map got 29 points and the Lange map came in last with 28 points.
The Crane A1 map was submitted to be eligible for the ranked vote by Republican Commissioners Marcus Muldoon, Cynthia Orton, and Erin Wagner; Democrat Commissioner Junita Curry; and Independent Commissioners Steven Lett, Richard Weiss, and Janice Vallette.
The Kellom map was submitted for vote by Democratic Commissioners Brittni Kellom, Elaine Andrade, Donna Callaghan, and Independent Commissioner Anthony EID.
Independent Commissioner Rebecca Szetela submitted her own drawn map and Republican Commissioner Rhonda Lange also submitted her own drawn map for consideration.
The Crane map is scheduled to be submitted to the federal three-judge panel Thursday.
“It feels good to be done. I’m exhausted. I’m sure everyone else is exhausted and just ready to go home,” Orton said.
Eid and Kellom agreed about being exhausted from the process and both described the maps being out of their hands as “bittersweet.”
Kellom said she would have liked to see more education and public outreach to explain the impacts the maps could have on the areas.
“You can’t have everything all at once,” she said.
Eid said he wasn’t sure if there were enough people that had an understanding of the redistricting process and what impact the redraws would have on voting in the 2026 election.
“We want this process to be finished. However, I remember thinking the same thing in 2021 and here we are again, so we can’t predict the future. We’ll have to see what happens,” Eid said.
The MICRC was told by the federal court it needed to redraw Senate Districts 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, and 11. The Crane map would see changes to Senate Districts 1-11, 13, 23, and 24. It is also a map that wouldn’t see a matchup between incumbent Senators if it is allowed to pass and be put in place for the 2026 midterm elections.
The Crane map creates:
- District 1: An open Detroit-based seat in 2026 with River Rouge, Ecorse, Lincoln Park and Southgate.
- District 2: An open Dearborn-based seat in 2026 with Dearborn Heights, Melvindale, Allen Park and half of Taylor.
- District 3: An open Detroit-based seat with Hamtramck and Highland Park. Rep. Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) lives here.
- District 4: A 56.8% Downriver district for a presumed Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) re-election campaign.
- District 5: An open Canton, Westland, Plymouth seat with a 60.6% Democratic base
- District 6: A Detroit-based district with Redford Township. Sen. Mary Cavanagh (D-Redford Twp.) lives here.
- District 7: An open Southfield-based district that looks a lot like the district Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) now represents.
- District 8: A Livonia/Northville/Farmington Hills-based district with a 54.7% Democratic base that Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia) lives in.
- District 9: A Rochester/Troy district includes half of Sterling Heights. It’s got a 50.5% GOP base for Sen. Michael Webber (R-Rochester Hills).
- District 10: A more compact Royal Oak-based district for Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) that includes half of Warren and a 54.7% Democratic base.
- District 11: A safe Democratic district for Sen. Veronica Klinefelt (D-Eastpointe) with the addition of half of Warren and none of Macomb Township.
- District 13: A 51% Democratic district that includes Milford, Lyon, Lyon Township, parts of Novi, Waterford and Commerce Township for Sen. Rosemary Bayer (D-Keego Harbor).
- District 23: An open solidly Republican district that is now completely within Oakland County.
- District 24: An open solidly Republican district that is now completely within Macomb County.
The federal court judges will have a special master review the proposed newly drawn Senate District maps and make a recommendation to the court to accept or reject the map. If rejected, the court could end up selecting a map drawn by a second special master.
Eid said the MICRC followed the same process it did when selecting the maps for the redrawn House Districts.
“So, because we followed the same process, it is our expectation that a similar result will happen, and the court will affirm the map that the commission adopted,” he said.
However, the Senate District redraw ended with much more contention than any of the previous maps.
“This is the first time being a part of the commission where there was a noticeable, I will describe, a noticeable tension in the room of deciding what we were listening to and what we weren’t,” Kellom said.
Before the ranked choice vote, there were two hours of public comment. Much of the public comment came out for the independently drawn Szetela map, which ultimately came in second.
The results of the fourth and fifth rounds of voting saw Independent Commissioners Lett, Vallette, and Weiss vote for the Crane A1 map, with Eid joining in the fifth round.
Republican Commissioners Lange, Muldoon, Wagner, and Orton voted for the Crane map in all rounds. Democratic Commissioner Curry also voted for the Crane map in all rounds.
The Kellom map saw Democratic Commissioners Kellom, Andrade, and Eid in the fourth round, and with Eid dropping, but Callaghan joining, in the fifth round.
The Szetela map saw Democratic Commissioner Callaghan vote in the fourth round, with Szetela holding on in the last round.
Kellom said she couldn’t predict if another lawsuit would be filed, but said she sees a lack of knowledge about the process of redistricting and is tired.
“I will also not be surprised if folks hold Crane A1 accountable,” she said.
Article courtesy MIRS News for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter
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