WASHINGTON – The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is hailing a federal court ruling that rejects Michigan Republicans’ gerrymandered maps and possibly gives Democrats a new opportunity to flip the state’s legislature.
“Today the court called out Republicans for trying to cheat voters and rig the system,” said Jessica Post, executive director of the DLCC. “In 2018, Democrats gained 10 legislative seats on an unconstitutional map. Redrawn fair maps level the playing field — and when the rules are fair, Democrats win.”
In 2020, new maps will be used for state and federal elections, possibly giving Democrats a new early advantage in flipping the state’s legislature.
Democrats need to win just four seats in the Michigan Senate and four seats in the Michigan House of Representative to take back the chambers. In 2018, the DLCC spent more than $3 million in the state and the committee has already made an early investment toward 2020’s elections.
“The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is committed to flipping Michigan’s Legislature and giving Governor Gretchen Whitmer the partners she needs to improve education and fix the state’s infrastructure,” Post said. “Michigan isn’t Russia. In our country, voters are supposed to pick their representatives — not the other way around.”
An expert testified during the case that the gerrymandered maps drawn by Republicans in 2011 were one of the largest partisan outliers in history and had a larger Republican bias than 98 percent of state House elections nationwide and 99.7 percent of state Senate elections over the last 50 years.
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