Emails suggest Republicans gerrymandered Michigan to weaken 'Dem garbage'
This article is from July, but it highlights the despicable behavior of Republicans (as if we needed more proof) at all levels of government. These emails were part of the discovery process in a lawsuit The League of Women Voters of Michigan brought against the state. Judge Elizabeth Clement, the GOP-appointed judge who was the swing vote ruling in favor of putting an anti-gerrymandering proposal on the November ballot says she was "intimidated by outside groups" prior to the decision and "shunned by Michigan Republicans" afterwards.
https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2018/09/25/republican-appointed-michigan-justice-says-she-was-intimidated-shunned-by-gop-for-anti-gerrymandering-decision?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=articleblog&utm_campaign=rightrail&utm_content=MorebyThisAuthor
I doesn't matter where you are--city, county, state, federal, if you're a Republican, you're nothing but a bully.
Emails suggest Republicans gerrymandered Michigan to weaken ‘Dem garbage’
Joel Kurth, Lindsay VanHulle
July 25, 2018
Emails have emerged in a federal lawsuit that suggest Republicans gerrymandered congressional districts in Michigan in 2011 to maintain an advantage over Democrats, despite years of claims the lines are drawn without political bias.
The lawsuit references private emails that allegedly show one Republican aide saying a Macomb County district is shaped like “it’s giving the finger to (Democratic U.S. Rep.) sandy levin. I love it.” Another email from a GOP staffer was said to brag about cramming “Dem garbage” into four southeast Michigan congressional districts.
In a third email, a longtime Michigan Chamber of Commerce executive predicts the maps will keep Republicans in power for years — and implies the 4th Congressional District in the central Lower Peninsula was drawn to the wishes of Dave Camp, a longtime Republican congressman from Midland who has since retired.
“We will accommodate whatever Dave wants in his district,” wrote Robert LaBrant, who has since left the Michigan Chamber and is now a GOP consultant, on May 18, 2011, to two Republican consultants and a Camp staffer. “We’ve spent a lot of time providing options to ensure we have a solid 9-5 delegation in 2012 and beyond.”