CHANGING PLACES
If approved by a federal court, come 2026, many local residents will have new state senators. The Michigan Independent Redistricting Commission was sent back to the drawing board months ago after a court struck down several legislative districts, after a lawsuit was filed by voters in the districts, contending that the districts involving Detroit, one of the country’s largest Black-majority cities, were placed too heavily with suburban, or White, voters. The court ordered six state Senate districts redrawn, including Senate District 8, currently represented by state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak, Birmingham, Clawson, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge, Ferndale, Oak Park and part of Detroit). The commission redrew McMorrow’s district, which would be District 10, to include Royal Oak, Oak Park, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Madison Heights, Clawson and Warren and Centerline in Macomb County. State Sen. Jeremy Moss’s (D-Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills, Pontiac, Auburn Hills, Lake Angelus, part of Waterford, Franklin, Lathrup Village, Beverly Hills, Southfield, part of Detroit) current district was also redrawn, with District 7 changing to include Southfield, Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms, Franklin, Pontiac and Auburn Hills – meaning the seventh district will be the sole one representing the Birmingham/Bloomfield area. The maps will either be adopted or sent back to the commission to begin over again, by July 26.