Local voters will be in new voting districts when going to the polls in 2022
Eastern Lapeer County, western St. Clair County and a portion of northern Macomb County will comprise the new 65th State House District.
TRI-CITY AREA — Just before 2021 came to a close, the state’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission approved maps that lay out new boundaries for voting districts for the next decade.
For the Tri-City area, the new maps will result in several changes across the board, particularly in the Michigan Senate and House of Representative districts.
State Senate
The commission approved the “Linden” version of the State Senate maps and, as a result, residents in the Tri-City area will be represented in one of three new state senate districts starting next year.
The four southern-most townships—Almont, Dryden, Metamora and Hadley— in Lapeer County will be grouped with neighboring communities in Macomb, Oakland and Genesee counties in the new 24th District.
The remainder of Lapeer County has been placed in the new 26th District with its neighbors to the north and west—portions of Genesee, Tuscola and Saginaw counties. At present, all of Lapeer County is paired with Tuscola and Bay counties in the 31st district and represented by Republican Kevin Daley.
St. Clair County will remain in the 25th Senate district. The new map incorporates it with a portion of Tuscola, all of Huron and Sanilac and a portion of Macomb counties. The new map is similar to the current one save for the addition of Tuscola County. Currently Republican Dan Lauwers serves as the 25th’s Senator in Lansing.
State House
Big changes are also in store for the Tri-City area’s House of Representative maps. For the last ten years, Lapeer County has comprised one House District—the 82nd—on its own but the commission chose to divide it three ways when they approved the “Hickory” version of the map. Approximately half of the eastern portion of Lapeer County will join a large portion of St. Clair County and some of Macomb County in the 65th District. The western half of Lapeer County has been paired with areas in Genesee and Tuscola counties and a small portion of the northernmost part of Lapeer has been grouped with the large 98th District. At present, Republican Gary Howell is the 82nd District’s representative but, due to term limits, his time in Lansing will conclude in 2022.
What it means for Capac area residents is that they’re guaranteed to have a new representative. Currently the 81st District job is held by Gary Eisen, a Republican, who resides in St. Clair Township. The new maps have placed St. Clair Township in the 63rd District.
Congress
The “Chesnut” version of the commission’s Congressional map will bring only minimal change for local residents.
Currently in the 10th District, Lapeer and St. Clair counties will now be in the 9th District with their neighbors to the north and south.
To the north, that includes most of Tuscola County plus Huron and Sanilac counties. To the south, the 9th District will continue to include a portion of Macomb County and, starting in 2023, a portion of Oakland County.
Currently, the 10th District is represented by Republican Lisa McClain of Romeo.
Elections
The new boundaries go into effect in 2023 when candidates elected in 2022 officially take office. Elections for state and federal seats will take place in August and November this year.
