By Ben Solis
Staff Writer
Posted: March 3, 2024 1:42 PM

Detroit-area House Democrats who would see significant changes in districts redrawn last week by the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission said in interviews that the new lines were surprising and somewhat disappointing, but they were ready to roll in terms of outreach in communities they don't currently represent.

Members of the commission on Wednesday voted to adopt a redrawn configuration of seven House districts that were thrown out by a federal three-judge panel because the ICRC drew those lines predominantly based on race, a violation of the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause.

The new map, titled Motown Sound FC E1, was submitted to the court before its March 1 deadline and will undergo review from a special master. A second special master was tapped to draw an alternative remedy map in the event the commission failed to meet its deadlines or if its new Detroit House map failed to meet muster with the court.

If the panel accepts the Motown Sound FC E1 map, it could mean some level of change, in some cases significant, to House districts 1 through 14. As far as the new map's potential impact on partisan control of the House, a new 13th District consisting of Roseville, central St. Clair Shores and eastern Warren has the potential to be competitive in a strong Republican year but leans Democratic. Otherwise, the changes have no effect on competitive seats, only redrawing solidly Democratic ones (See Gongwer Michigan Report, February 28, 2024).

Among those most affected by drastic changes to their districts are Rep. Natalie Price (D-Berkley), Rep. Helena Scott (D-Detroit), Rep. Mike McFall (D-Hazel Park), Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit), Rep. Veronica Paiz (D-Harper Woods) and Mai Xiong (D-Warren), who is likely to win a seat in the House this April.

Price and Paiz spoke with Gongwer News Service on Friday to react to some of those changes.

Price would lose the Detroit portion of her seat, as well as the Oak Park portion, and see her territory shift north, adding most of Royal Oak and all of Huntington Woods. Paiz's district also changes radically. She loses the St. Clair Shores portion and picks up the Grosse Pointes and a little more of Detroit than it has now.

Both said they were somewhat disappointed to see their districts potentially change.

"I love my current district," Price said. "This is my first term, and I have made a lot of effort to show up and get to know folks everywhere in my district. I'm attached, so that's one factor."

Paiz shared the same sentiment about being attached to her current community landscape.

"I really love my district the way it is now. I feel I've got a great bunch," Paiz said. "I keep my hometown, so that's wonderful, right off the bat. I just returned this morning from my monthly meeting with our St. Clair Shores seniors, and there's always a great turnout there. I get to hear about a lot of what's on their mind and they're just a good solid group. I love my Detroiters, too. So, this takes away my St. Clair Shorts part. Hopefully, I'm reelected, but I'll really miss them."

Paiz added that one of her constituents brought up the potential changes as she met with them on Friday.

"They're disappointed too, which is both comforting, but in a way it's sad," Paiz said.

Those feelings aside, both Price and Paiz said they were ready to take on whatever district is handed to them, be it through the commission's or the court's remedy map.

"I don't get any say in the process, or how this ends up, or what the districts will be, and again, this was my first term," Price said. "When I started, I learned how to show up and connect with my current district. I will show up and learn how to connect with a district I end up in."

Paiz said her familiarity with the surrounding area will help in her new territory.

"I lived in my Detroit constituent area years and years ago, in a couple of different areas there, Morningside actually, my family lived there," Paiz said. "I feel like I know the area, so that's a great thing. … I feel like I'm establishing relationships with them in Detroit and it's not intimidating to me."

She's also not intimidated by her added territory in the Grosse Pointes.

"Even though I haven't lived there, Grosse Pointe schools also have part of Harper Woods in the school system. I happen to live in the part of Harper Woods with the Grosse Pointe school district," Paiz added. "I think it's wonderful because we'll be keeping the school district together."

She said those relationships would need to be reestablished in the new areas, but she is ready for the task at hand.

Price has also contemplated how her potential district changes would affect her campaign strategy. She told Gongwer that she'd do the same things that got her elected in the first place, with the added benefit of having now served in the House for a full term.

"It is 'keep showing up and doing the work' and 'showing the truth,' which is that I care and will advocate for my constituents. That doesn't change," Price said. "I think that if I am doing my job well, it'll speak for itself and that will hopefully help voters feel the confidence that they need to put me back in office. That is the plan. The difference before is, again, this was my first term. I was running on my reputation as an engaged city council member. Now I'm running on the reputation as an engaged state representative. That's going to be the same no matter what my district is."

One potential wrinkle in the remedy mapping process was that the commission created several iterations of Detroit-area districts before landing on the Motown Sound FC E1 map. Some of the maps drew Paiz and Rep. Kimberly Edwards (D-Eastpointe) into the same district, while Price would have been drawn together with Rep. Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park).

If the court adopts the Motown Sound map, Price and Weiss would remain in separate districts, as would Edwards and Paiz.

All four said the lack of incumbent matchups in their areas was a relief, especially considering the Edwards-Paiz match would pit two women of color against each other (Edwards is Black and Paiz is Mexican).

Edwards told Gongwer that representation matters, and she's happy to see them both potentially keep their seats.

"None of us wants to run against each other," Edwards said. "I'm just glad we're not, because Latinos deserve to have representation just like African Americans deserve to have representation. I am kind of excited that we both still have opportunity to represent our district to the ability that we have already done. However, she and I both advocate for Michigan as a whole, not just our home district. We make sure our district is covered, but we also make sure to advocate for all things Michigan."

Edwards had a bit of an aha moment during the interview, and quipped that she should make that her campaign slogan.

Paiz also said she wanted to avoid a primary matchup with Edwards for the same reasons.

"Rep. Edwards and I have a really good, friendly relationship with each other, so we've been discussing these things, like maintaining the Latino representation because I'm the only one in the state House, and also maintaining the first Black woman representative in Macomb County," she said. "That was really concerning to us."

As they were both looking at the other maps, it had them thinking about moving away from areas where they've lived for nearly 25 years.

"I'm older, I'm 66, and so I was thinking, 'well, should I just retire, then? Or what should I do?" Paiz said. "Now I don't have to think about that. But yeah, there were a lot of discussions about that."

Weiss said she had similar considerations in play about a potential primary battle with Price.

"It's been hard watching this process and not knowing what the maps are really going to be, and not having a lot of time to figure out what we're going to do, depending on what the maps are" Weiss said. "Honestly, I think it's kind of miraculous that no incumbents were drawn together in the map that got voted out of the commission. It's not something they even look at or consider, and a lot of us do live pretty closely together. It was just by happenstance and chance that it didn't happen. I am pleased that is the case, because it was not the case the last time around."

Weiss added she was hopeful that she would be able to run in the same district one day without so many breakneck changes between the two terms, thanks to redistricting.

In a statement on changes to his district, McFall told Gongwer he was "glad to see the process moving forward."

"I will keep monitoring it as the process continues," he said. "Elections are the heart of democracy. I want every person in this state to have their voice heard – at the ballot box and in the halls of these legislative chambers."

MSU, VOTERS NOT POLITICIANS WEIGH IN: Non-partisan groups have also had a vested interest in how the new map would shake out incumbency wise.

Michigan State University's Institute for Public Policy and Social Research has been watching the drama unfold and analyzing the commission's work since it was seated in 2021. It has also criticized the commission for inadequacies with its maps over the process and given them praise when they've gotten it right.

IPPSR Director Matt Grossmann said the institute's researchers and staff members were "pleased that the commission responded to the court order by listening to the citizens of Detroit and quickly moving forward with a new map."

"I'm happy to say that we think it addresses the court's concerns, improves on the previous map, and will improve representation in Detroit and Southeast Michigan," Grossmann said. "IPPSR pledges its continuing support for this process and hopes to continue as a resource for the commission."

Voters Not Politicians, the group that was instrumental in crafting and advocating the constitutional amendment that created the commission, also weighed in on the Motown Sound map.

Like IPPSR, VNP has shared concerns and praise for the commission's work in the past. That was no different with the Motown Sound map.

In a release to VNP email subscribers, Director Jamie Lyons-Eddy said that some believed the commission could not get it done, but her group believed otherwise and kept the faith that the ICRC could put forth a working remedy map.

"This week, commissioners made small adjustments to Motown Sound, the map that was overwhelmingly supported during public comment, to make sure district boundaries respected Detroit neighborhoods as much as possible," Eddy wrote. "While the commission could have done better to improve partisan fairness, Voters Not Politicians agrees with the majority of commissioners that of the available options, the Motown Sound FC E1 map did the best job responding to public comment, addressing the issues identified by the court, and following constitutional criteria."

Court proceedings will continue through March in Agee v. Benson, the lawsuit that resulted in the redrawing of the Detroit House map. The plaintiffs have until March 8 to submit objections to the map, which they have already indicated they would do with proposed amendments. The commission must respond to those objections or amendments by March 15. A special reviewing master's report should be submitted by then, as well.

The panel has until March 29 to decide on which map to approve – the commission's or the special mapping master's work.