Mark Schauer has served in the state House, Senate and Congress. Now he’s trying to help Democrats have more of a say in how the boundaries for those offices are drawn in Michigan and other states.
Schauer, a Democrat from Battle Creek fell short in his bid for Governor of Michigan last year. Republican Rick Snyder was re-elected with about 51% of the vote. Schauer is now leading the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee’s Advantage 2020 Initiative. He says the goal of the SuperPac is to put at least part of the “redistricting pen” in the hands of Democrats.
Republicans focused on controlling state Legislatures, and the redistricting process in the 2010 elections. Schauer says that has resulted in maps that favor Republicans for the Legislature and Congress in many states. As an example, Schauer says Democrats won 53% of the total votes for Congress throughout Michigan in 2012, but the party has only five seats in the state’s Congressional delegation.
Schauer has some personal experience with redistricting. He defeated Republican Tim Walberg in 2008 to win a seat in Congress. Walberg ran again and defeated Schauer in the big Republican year of 2010. But the new map drawn after the 2010 census took Schauer’s hometown of Battle Creek and Calhoun County out of the 7th Congressional District. Schauer says that was done to prevent him from challenging Walberg again in the 2012 Election, a Presidential Election year when Democratic turnout is normally higher.
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A recent Supreme Court decision found that states can appoint independent redistricting commissions to draw the boundaries for legislative districts. Schauer says he would love to see a proposal for an independent redistricting commission on the ballot in Michigan, and would support it. But some states don’t have a way for voters to put proposal or amendment to the state Constitution on the ballot. Schauer says it’s important to work in those states to gain at least partial control of the state Legislature.
Schauer acknowledges that the maps aren’t the only factor in how legislative elections turn out. He says other things such as quality of candidate and the national tide influence election results. Schauer says the good news for Democrats is that in the run-up to 2020, two of the three election years will include a Presidential election when traditionally more Democrats turn out. Schauer says there are other potential openings for Democrats in Michigan. He says term limits for many of the Republicans elected in the wave elections of 2010 and 2014 will create a number of open state House seats in the 2016 and 2020 elections.