Legislative committee gathers redistricting data

By Tim Martin Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan lawmakers preparing to redraw boundaries for U.S. House and state legislative districts were briefed this week by the state demographer, who noted the state's population rose in parts of the west and northwest Lower Peninsula while declining overall statewide. It's too early to tell exactly how the gains might be reflected when lawmakers draw new boundaries through the redistricting process later this year. "We'll have to see how the districts are drawn," state demographer Ken Darga told reporters after his presentation to the House Redistricting and Elections Committee. "Certainly though, it does increase the political clout of areas that are growing and decrease the political clout of areas that are declining in population." Boundaries will be redrawn based on counts from the 2010 U.S. Census. Republicans who control both the state House and Senate will have the most control over the process. The state's population dropped by 0.6 percent, to 9,883,640. Michigan was the only state to lose population in the past decade and will lose one of its 15 congressional seats. A seven-county area including Ottawa and Kent counties, along with a 10-county region including Grand Traverse County, each had population increases of roughly 6 percent during the decade. Population declined by 2.7 percent in a seven-county region of southeast Michigan, including Detroit. Detroit officials plan to challenge results that show it lost about 25 percent of its population between 2000 and 2010. The statistics show that the Motor City's population fell from 951,270 in 2000 to 713,777 last year. Getting a higher population count would help Detroit's case for getting some types of federal and state assistance. But it won't influence the state's redistricting process, Darga said. Challenges submitted by governments related to counts might not be resolved until 2013, Darga said. "The challenge for redistricting is timing," Darga said. "District boundaries are going to be drawn in the very near future, and the count questions will be resolved by 2013. So there's a timing problem there." Published: Thu, Apr 14, 2011