I am confused as a citizen of Auburn Hills why we are linked with communities so far away that are different in demographics and needs. The needs of our community better match those south and east of us such as Rochester Hills. This is clearly gerrymandered!

I'm not sure what the citizens of western Sterling Heights have common with the citizens in Oakland Twp. The city of Warren on this map will have three senate seats and could possibly be represented in the senate by no one that lives in Macomb County. You may not think this matters but it does. You also created a COI along the lakeshore in mostly Macomb county yet downriver you divert off the lakeshore and go west to include Taylor. What's the COI there? Communities of interest don't matter if they don't have a representative that cares about their community. Honor county boundary lines, at least close to the margins, and try to create more districts as politically balanced as possible. After all, politically fairer districts are why many, if not most, of us, voted for this law in the first place.

How do I know if this is a balanced map? Does party vote translate equally to seats? I can't tell. What metric, like efficiency gap, was used to determine whether the maps are fair?

The current draft map of the State Senate Districts encompassing Washtenaw County concern me for two reasons: 1st, because they perpetuate the packing of Ann Arbor voters into one State Senate district, which means that anyone who identifies as a Republican in that district has essentially no chance of being represented by someone who aligns with them. One of the things you are tasked with is to not provide disproportionate advantage to political parties or candidates, which this does. The 2nd reason for my concern about the proposed districts is that they do not take into consideration the fact that there is a significant economic “Community of Interest” connection between the western part of Washtenaw County and portions of Ann Arbor. As a business owner in Chelsea, I see that most of the economic activity in our area comes from the east and west – the Ann Arbor and Jackson areas being the top two. As evidence of the connection between our area and the Ann Arbor area, the US Census Bureau’s OnTheMap shows that almost 11% of Jackson residents, more than 18% of Manchester residents, more than 25% of Chelsea residents, and almost 30% of Dexter residents commute to Ann Arbor for work. In addition, surveys done by a group that sponsors events in Chelsea show that the top visitors during those events come from, in order of highest: Ann Arbor, Grasslake, Dexter, Jackson, Manchester, and Saline. Showing a true Economic Community of Interest. It is for these reasons that I ask that you take another look at the districts with the idea of including western portions of Ann Arbor, stretching west through Jackson county. I have also submitted these comments to the portal, along with a map showing how the district could be drawn.

It doesn't make sense for parts of SE Oakland county (specifically district 11) to be cut between two other counties. It also looks as if the way district 18 is cut slants towards republican voters. Also in District 31, Holly should be kept with north western Oakland county.

District 13 should not be split between Oakland County and Wayne County. You've kept a few of our inner ring suburbs together, but making up such a large part of the district with Detroit dilutes many communities of interest--both in the Oakland part and the Wayne part. This should be an entirely suburban district to keep communities of interest together on both sides of 8 Mile.

This is a bad map, you've completely messed up SE Oakland County communities, this is awful and obviously slants things toward Republicans.

Disproportional coverage along I-96 West will adversely impact Wixom which has only a 1 mile stretch along the major artery connecting US23 to SE Michigan. Possible solutions are extending District 18 south to include a section of I-96 or extending District 14 southern border to the east providing a larger footprint along I-96. Wixom, New Hudson, and Milford have extensive traffic flows from I-96 to the rural community. Those communities will have little say about I-96 impact, but will be adversely impacted with traffic flow changes.

This is a terrible map. Why are Highland, Milford and Waterford in a district with Pontiac and Rochester is in a district with Sterling Heights, which is not even in the same county? These maps are certainly not based upon COIs, economic, educational or social interests of the communities; must be political then. Gerrymandering.

As a person who grew up in Metro GR. This is absolutely silly. Very few of Kent County's communities have a deep connection with the southern portions of the Lake Shore like this. Especially not Cascade Twp. Way off the mark here. Try keeping Kent County communities together.

You have cut off every outlying area associated with Saline and just included the declared municipal boundaries and Pittsfield. This area is actually is worse than the old 2010 maps. If you are looking for an area to work on to get a better partisan balance and bring down your efficiency gap number, this A2/Ypsi concentration is a great place to start.

Southern Kent County does not share a community of interest with Benton Harbor, South Haven, or Saugatuck. A better solution would be to extend this district more to the east/south with Lowell/Hastings/etc. Even Georgetown Township would be better than a lakeshore district.

Why are Highland, Milford and Waterford in a district with Pontiac, but Rochester is in a district with Sterling Heights? There are no COIs, schools or similar economic/social interests between the above and Pontiac or Rochester and Sterling Heights. At least Pontiac is in the same County, but this appears to be just an attempt to insert more urban communities into exurban and suburban areas that hold no common interests. Not good.

This 27th district that includes Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti is a democratic pack and doesn't represent communities of interest well. Just because they are close geographically does not mean they are alike. Ann Arbor should be put with areas in Western Washtenaw that are also wealthier and whiter, whereas Ypsi should be put with areas in Western Wayne county like Romulus, Bellevue, and potentially Canton that are more diverse. Thanks for your hard work, I just wanted to offer my feedback

Do not like city of Midland broken away from Midland county and our watershed. Flooding is major issue for our city and solutions need to work with our county as river flows through entire county. Tri cities is just a name. Please pay attention to physical geography. Watershed remediation and flood recovery are long term multi million dollar issues that vastly outweigh other considerations.

Cascade Township, on the most inland eastern portion of Kent County has no business being lumped into a lakeshore district reaching down to Stevensville and Michigan's southwestern state line. As a vibrant suburb of the Grand Rapids region it shares far too many regional and suburban resources with Grand Rapids, Kentwood, and Wyoming to be disenfranchised from it's partners and neighbors in Kent County.

Please keep our small town communities together! Our small towns between Allegan and Van Buren are very similar and share many interests. Their communities spread into the outlying rural areas and border one-another. It would be a disservice to break them apart. Lawton, Paw Paw, Allegan, Plainwell and Otsego are a few examples of small town communities in this region that should not be separated. A sensible Senate district can include everything from Decatur, up to Allegan, over to Wayland, and back down to Lawton within a contiguous area that forms a community of interest.

Why would I want to be a part of Macomb and St Clair County District? Harper Woods should be re-aligned again with the 5 Grosse Pointes again as well as a portion of Detroit to keep the district as part of Wayne County.

Why are Clarkston, Highland, Waterford and White Lake in a district with Pontiac and Auburn Hills, and Sterling Heights in a district with Rochester and Oakland Township ? There are no COIs here, nor shared schools or economic and social interests. Map is bad.

East Lansing should not be in with Owosso, Corunna, St Johns, Fowlerville etc etc. One of the more red areas of lower Michigan with enough blue added to cancel it all out. East Lansing in no way represents the rest of the district it is in, in this image.

Including Manistee and Benzie County with Grand Traverse aligns with cultural and economic similarities. Beyond tourism industry acting as an economic driver in these counties, they have much more cultural connection to each other than Traverse City does with Sault Ste. Marie.

I agree with the other commenters that this district contains communities such as Highland, Milford, Waterford, and White Lake, which have no commonalities with Pontiac. This district serves no one.

The proposed boundary proposes to combine three counties, numerous cities that have vastly different social and economic needs. I am concerned that voices of Northeast Detroit will be lost even more and have even less representation.

Pontiac should not be included with Highland, Milford, and White Lake. Similar to another comment, there is really no connection between these communities and it does dilute the vote in these areas.

Why are Highland Twp, Milford Twp, and Pontiac in the same district? These communities have little in common with each other, and this grouping only serves to dilute the votes on all these residents.

Grosse Pointe/Harper Woods should not be separated from Wayne County in this proposed redistricting.

Why are all the communities along Lake St. Clair grouped together? We have the water in common, but that's it. Politically, these communities are very different. It's a once-in-a-lifetime event when I travel up to New Baltimore, Algonac, or Marine City. I'm much more likely to go to neighboring Harper Woods, Eastpointe, or the east side of Detroit.

I want to thank the commissioners for recognizing that Arenac County is part of the Great Lakes Bay Region and is closing aligned to Bay County in their Congressional Map #187. Please consider recognizing and keeping our communities of interest together in the senate maps as well.

What a horrible map. Why would you put the Grosse Pointes and Harper Woods with *Marine City*?? I thought this process was supposed to empower communities of interest. I’ve never set foot in those faraway suburbs and their interests are quite different from the interests of inner-ring suburbs. Please keep the Grosse Pointes and Harper Woods with Detroit or at least with cities like Eastpointe, Roseville, and St. Clair Shores. We have nothing in common with the rural areas with which we have been randomly clumped together and much more in common with Detroit, where we work, attend university, recreate, and shop.

I'm glad that the committee kept my small, urban community of Harper Woods joined to our traditional neighbors of the Grosse Pointe communities with whom we share many services and similarities, but the map ties us to agricultural rural communities whose concerns are vastly different. It would have made much more sense to join us with St. Clair Shores, Roseville, Eastpointe and portions of Detroit (Cornerstone Village on the map) because our interests are much more similar. I believe our representation will not reflect the needs of our community. Please reconsider the district lines for the lower portion of District 7 where our urban nature is considerably different from the needs of the more rural communities.

Why are you putting a Wayne Co. community with Macomb Co. We have always been a part of the Detroit community and are appalled that you are completely separating us from them. This appears to still contain the very gerrymandering we were hoping to avoid, and will negate my vote completely.

OMG. Harper Woods is in Wayne County. Our State Rep is Wayne County. Our State Senator is Wayne County. Our County District Commissioner is Wayne County. We are an URBAN city; Detroit borders us on two sides! Do not add a Wayne County city to Macomb and St. Clair Counties (which is what this map does). We have totally different issues -- not suburban issues and certainly not farmland or marine issues. The I-94 highway corridor does not define us, and neither does the lake (which is at least two miles from us). This map would make it difficult for Harper Woods to get the specific attention we need, specific funding, and address our urban and cultural issues.

It is tragic that Kalamazoo County residents in suburban areas surrounding the cities of Kalamazoo and Portage will not share representation with their neighbors living in the cities. The commission cannot reasonably justify creating a Senate district that includes unconnected portions of several counties. This is a compromised map, borne of an unfounded desire to include Battle Creek and Kalamazoo together that tramples over school district lines, connects areas that have nothing to do with each other and seems to be solely a partisan division that separates Democratic areas and Republican areas from each other. Kalamazoo is a bipartisan county that is never dominated by one party or the other and in the past 10 years has been represented by BOTH a Democratic Senator and a Democratic Senator. This map will not reflect that paradigm. I hope the commission decides to abandon this proposed map and draws the region into an independent (in more than one way) Kalamazoo county seat.

This map divides the Lansing/East Lansing COI. Both cities are very reliant on one another and literally share a name. Please consider drawing a senate seat with both cities wholly within one district and a second district with the Lansing metro area suburbs.

Keeping the I-94 corridor intact seems to be a major reason for drawing the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo metro areas together, but I would like to remind the commission that Kalamazoo county has TWO major freeways passing through it and so does Calhoun county. The interests the commission believes the cities share are not as valid as the interests between Battle Creek and Marshall or Kalamazoo and the suburbs in Texas and Oshtemo townships. As well, this map packs Democratic and minority voters in a seeming partisan Gerrymander while simultaneously lumping rural and likely-Republican voters from several counties into a horrible even more Gerrymandered district. This is absolutely not what the voters intended to have the commission draw when they overwhelmingly supported the creation of the commission in November 2018.

It makes no sense to split Midland County and combine it with the cities of Saginaw and Bay City, splitting up Bay and Saginaw Counties as well. Midland should be kept whole and part of Gladwin County, this will aid the flood recovery that devastated Midland and Gladwin counties by giving us a unified voice in recovery!

Please keep Allegan and Van Buren counties together!! Paw Paw, Plainwell, Otsego, Mattawan, are small town communities with common sense values, similar economies, rural areas that share many strengths and challenges. Allegan and Van Buren counties collaborate on providing public defender services and veteran treatment courts to our residents. Both Allegan and Van Buren rely heavily on tourism and have strong agriculture communities and histories. This map breaks up the voice of Van Buren and Allegan county residents which result in a lack of cohesive representation in our state legislature. I strongly encourage you to keep Van Buren and Allegan counties together!

This needs to be corrected. I am a resident of Midland and I want the city of Midland to remain with the rest of the county. Midland is not a suburban city and we don't have a lot in common with Saginaw or Bay City.

Kalamazoo County fits into an entire Senate District by itself. There is absolutely no need to break up this county. Texas and Oshtemo Townships belong with Kalamazoo and Portage. Battle Creek belongs with Calhoun County. This map dilutes the minority vote and erases the competitive district that Calhoun County has been for a very long time. Those wanting Battle Creek with Kalamazoo are packing minorities into a single district, instead of giving them the opportunity to elect 2 public officials to properly represent them.

Once again, you appear to be carving up Oakland County, amongst others, with the oddly shaped and ill-thought out districts. The point of this exercise was to give constituents a representative that could be responsive to the entire district and take their needs and concerns to Lansing. This is not that map. Based upon the maps that have been presented, it appears that this entire redistricting process has been a waste of time and money and will bring no one closer to having proper representation.

I dislike this version of Senate District 21 because Texas and Oshtemo Townships are cut off from Kalamazoo and Portage. Texas and Oshtemo townships are suburban areas with very strong connections with Kalamazoo and Portage. They are not rural areas, and should not be included in the mostly rural district 3. Oshtemo kids go to Kalamazoo Public Schools, and Texas Township kids attend Portage Public Schools. They are connected economically, culturally, and geographically and should not be put in a mostly rural district.

Not a good drawing for Midland. The issues and values of Midland are going to be lost if grouped with the more suburban areas represented in this drawing.

Please do not split up Midland County. I am a resident of Midland, and we have much more in common with the rest of the rural parts of Midland County than with the suburban areas of Bay City and Saginaw. I am very concerned that our voices will not be heard if this map is used.

It is disturbing to see how you split Oakland County’s Troy, Rochester, Rochester Hills and Oakland Twp and put them with Macomb County’s Sterling Heights. Oakland County and Macomb do not share the same priorities and shouldn’t share the same representation.

Once again, Warren is Michigan's third largest city, and Macomb County's largest city. Yet under this map, the voting power of our citizens is torn apart. This map will devastate the ability of Warren residents to vote for elected officials who truly care about our issues. There is no reason to tear apart our city other than a desire to dilute the voting power or working class residents.

YOU ARE SPLITTING A LITERAL NEIGHBORHOOD IN HALF?! This is ridiculous. You are taking portions of Oakland County to create District 2 when you can leave Macomb Township complete to create it. This is a laughable attempt to keep Macomb residents happy and your map cuts my community in half.