#mi09

As expected, U.S. Reps. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, and Sander Levin, D-Bloomfield Township, were thrown into the same district. U.S. Reps. Thad McCotter, R-Livonia, and John Conyers, D-Detroit, pick up large portions of Peters’ Oakland County district. U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., and the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, was in Michigan on Thursday to meet with Levin and Peters about the campaign strategy for 2012. “Redistricting got very weird in Michigan this year,” he said. “Ultimately, Gary has to make the decision on where to run, but McCotter has always been on people’s lists of someone who doesn’t represent the sensibilities of his district. Running against McCotter, Peters would have the truly moderate voting record.”

Under proposed new national Congressional boundaries, the state House Republicans' plan moves U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak, into the ninth Congressional district now represented by U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township.

U.S. Reps. Gary Peters and Sander Levin would end up in the same congressional district under a redistricting map Republicans are reviewing that was obtained by The Detroit News. The draft plan, in the works for weeks, also would boost GOP majorities in a number of districts, making it easier for Republicans to hold onto their seats. It was reviewed this week by a group of state GOP lawmakers, representatives from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Attorney General's office, two sources with knowledge of the meeting told The News. The sources requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak about the redistricting efforts. All nine GOP members of Michigan's congressional delegation and their chiefs of staff attended a half-hour meeting in Washington to discuss the redistricting plan, a person who attended said.

Brewer today issued a press release calling for redistricting reform, noting that Knollenberg of Troy sits on the House Redistricting Committee, which is charged, along with the Senate Redistricting Committee, with carving out new state legislative and U.S. congressional districts based on 2010 Census numbers. The plan would have to pass in both chambers and be signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder. Knollenberg confirmed that he is planning to run for Congress, and would likely make his bid for Democratic U.S. Rep. Gary Peter's District 9 seat, provided he's still in that district after the maps are redrawn.