News File Photo Alpena election worker Kathy Clark readies a ballot to put into the tabulator while working at the APlex during a November 2021 election.

ALPENA — The political makeup of northern Michigan will likely remain much like it is now in upcoming elections.

The region should remain very conservitive leaning and Republican candidates should fare well in the area, local political officials say.

The recently updated political maps adopted by The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission Tuesday may look a bit different, but outside of a few tweaks to the congressional, state representative, and state senator district boundaries, they likely won’t impact the number of Republicans or Democrats being elected.

The new maps will be used in the 2022 elections.

The 1st Congressional District – which includes most of Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula – still leans Republican, by about 57% to 43%, according to the commission.

James Hogge, communications director for congressman Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, said he believed the commission did what it could to make the district balanced. He said the district appears to be as red as it has been for many years.

The only way the commission could tilt the scale more to the left, Hogge said, would have been to broaden the boundaries well outside the area.

“We’re very comfortable with the new district because with the geography the way it is here, there was really no way to make it less Republican,” he said. “They would have had to run the boundaries well down the shoreline on both sides of the state or move it as far south as Saginaw. It would have had to be seriously gerrymandered to make it less red.”

The 36th Senate district has some significant changes to it. It won’t run as far south and Midland County is now excluded from it, which means a candidate from the north could have a better shot at securing a state senate seat. The reshaped district goes as far south as Pinconning and west past Cadillac. The district’s northern boundary ends between Rogers City and Cheboygan.

The 106th District, which elects the state representative for Northeast Michigan, gains a little more of Cheboygan County, and all of Montmorency County. The district extends as far west as near Allanson in its northern section. The boundary to the south divides Oscoda County.

The commission removed Iosco County from the district, which means Alpena will be the most populated city in the district and may have more political pull at the voting box.

Jesse Osmer, legislative aid for State Rep. Sue Allor, former 1st congressional district Republican chairman, said all signs point to the 106th district remaining solidly conservitive.

“The change isn’t really going to do much in terms of political climate. It is going to stay pretty Republican,” Osmer said. “It definitely puts Alpena in the driver’s seat for voter weight and it will force candidates to place more focus on Alpena.”

Alpena County Democratic Party Chair Marie Fielder said the party appreciates the hard work the commission put into the process. She said she hopes the changes made to the map lead to equal say in Lansing. She said the party is equally excited to be able to meet new stakeholders and partners in the 106th District and to work with them.

“The party hopes the new maps lead to more balanced representation where everyone from Eagle Harbor to Detroit has an equal voice,” Fielder said. “As chair of the Alpena County Democratic Party I think new relationships will be forged and I look forward to that.”

Alpena Community College Political Science instructor Tim Kuehnlein said he doesn’t expect the updated maps to have a big impact on elections in the district. He said one of the goals of the commission is to lump counties that are similar together, which he said, for the most part, is the case in Northern Michigan.

Kuehnlein said when the voters voted to form the commission to create the new maps in 2018, and take the job out of the hands of the legislature in Lansing, it was a defining moment because it showed the people were sick of having a majority party gerrymander the districts.

He said he suspects there will be some legal challenges to some of the new districts, especially in southern Michigan, but he doesn’t anticipate any intervention from the courts.

In the end, he said he believes voters in other states will make similar demands and end intentional gerrymandering.

“The people spoke pretty loudly that they were sick of it, so I don’t see the litigation going anywhere,” he said. “It is a big step for Michigan, and a big step toward a national trend because there are many states dealing with the same situation.”