TGIF: Redistricting Could Split Farmington and Farmington Hills

Republicans in charge of redistricting Michigan after the 2010 census have proposed a significant change in how Farmington and Farmington Hills are represented in Congress. With the state losing a congressional district, the process of reapportionment was bound to be controversial.

The congressional plan would split the cities; Farmington lands in the 11th District, and Farmington Hills in the 14th. Both are currently in the 9th District, represented by Congressman Gary Peters, a Bloomfield Hills Democrat who would land in the same district as Sander Levin (D-12th District) under the redistricting plan.

Detroit Free Press columnist Stephen Henderson called the congressional redistricting plan "the most extreme iteration of gerrymandering yet seen in Michigan."

On the other hand, State Rep. Pete Lund, a Republican from Shelby Township, who chairs the House Redistricting and Elections Committee, told the Macomb Daily: "The ... reason why some districts look so screwy is because the rules in Michigan are very strict. You're not supposed to break county lines and, if you do, you cannot break municipal borders."

What do you think of the new congressional plan?