In battle for Michigan House, four Oakland County Democrats can restore balance

Detroit Free Press

To understand how much gerrymandering has distorted the democratic process in Michigan, look no further than Oakland County. where legislative boundaries drawn after the 2010 Census have systematically diluted the influence of Democratic voters for a decade.

Oakland voters historically have given the major parties alternating turns at the state's top elected office. Republican candidates carried Oakland in three of Michigan's last six gubernatorial contests (1998, 2010 and 2014); Democrats came out on top in the other three (2002, 2006 and 2018). In each instance, the candidate who prevailed in Oakland also won statewide.

But in legislative elections, Oakland's swing don't mean a thing — or at least it hasn't until now,

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