There are several articles that analyse the general political leanings of the new districts.
Michigan Redistricting: Congressional Map Passed
Republican Michigander Congressional District Profiles (Sidebar at right)
District 1 (Upper Peninsula, Northern Lower Peninsula) Likely Republican.
In 2010, Dr. Dan Benishek won an open seat vacated by democrat Rep. Bart Stupak against democrat state Rep. Gary McDowell 52-41. The new district gets more Republican, adding areas around Traverse City. Benishek has generally voted with the leadership, displeasing some of his former Tea Party supporters. McDowell is back for a rematch, but Benishek will be difficult to beat as an incumbent.
District 2 (Ottowa, Muskegon) Safe Republican.
Republican former state rep. Bill Huizinga won a close primary in 2010 to replace Pete Hoekstra, who was running for governor. Since then he has generally voted the party line. This remains the most Republican district in Michigan. There has been talk of Tea Partiers supporting term-limited state rep. Dave Agema in the primary. Agema is a staunch conservative who has championed gun rights, immigration restriction, and fiscal conservatism. His home in the Grand Rapids suburb of Grandville was added to the 2nd in redistricting.
District 3 (Kent, Calhoun) Safe Republican.
Republican state rep. Justin Amash won the primary to replace moderate Republican Vern Ehlers, who retired rather than face a strong primary challenge. Amash is a libertarian in the mold of Rep. Ron Paul. He has stepped on some toes in Washington, most notably getting into a spat with the NRA over procedural objections to a gun rights bill. There have been repeated rumors that someone will challenge Amsah in the Republican primary, but nobody has so far. Amash remains the favorite.
District 4 (central Michigan) Safe Republican.
Republican Dave Camp has been winning big margins in this district since 1990. He's now the Ways and Means Committee chairman and still going strong.
District 5 (Genesee, Saginaw, Bay) Safe democrat.
Michigan 5th Congressional District Election Preview
Democrat Dale Kildee, who has held this district since 1976, is finally retiring. Former Genesee Treasurer Dan Kildee, notable for his proposal to tear down sections of Flint, is running. Several other prominent democrats, former Congressman James Barcia, State Senator John Gleason, and state rep. Woodrow Stanley, have discussed running but have not announced anything yet. Former democrat state rep. Jim Slezak is running as a Republican. 2010 nominee John Kupiec is also considering running.
District 6 (SW Michigan) Safe Republican.
Moderate Republican Fred Upton has won by wide margins since defeating conservative Mark Siljander in 1986. In 2010, former state rep. Jack Hoogendyk, running with Tea Party support got 43% in the Republican primary. The race received almost no outside attention and Jack raised only $60,000 in that race. Since then, Upton became Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and his record received more scrutiny from national conservatives. Hoogendyk is challenging Upton again in 2012, and is likely to receive support from the Club for Growth.
In 2008 and 2010, Upton easily defeated leftist Kalamazoo city commissioner Don Cooney. In 2012, the democrat candidate is John Waltz, an Iraq War veteran who recently moved to the district from Kentucky.
District 7 (south-central Michigan) Safe Republican.
Republican Tim Walberg defeated liberal democrat Mark Schauer in a hard-fought race in 2010. This followed Schauer's defeat of Walberg in 2008, Walberg's defeat of RINO Joe Schwarz in 2006, and Schwarz's winning a divided Republican primary to replace Nick Smith in 2004. Redistricting removed Schauer's base of Calhoun county, and he is not running again. Walberg tends to be underestimated, but even in 2008, facing a strong opponent supported by Schwarz in the worst Republican year in memory, he only lost by 3%. Democrats have no candidate so far. Walberg will never win the margins of Camp, Rogers, or Miller, but I suspect he will settle in and win 55-60%.
District 8 (Ingham, Livingston, N Oakland) Safe Republican.
Republican Mike Rogers has won big margins since 2000, and he should have no trouble with his new district.
District 9 (S Macomb, Royal Oak, Bloomfield) Safe democrat.
This is mostly the old 12th district of Sander Levin, though it also takes in part of Gary Peters' old 9th district. This district is less liberal without Southfield and Oak Park. Levin is more liberal than the district, but he is popular enough to win here as long as he wants. He will likely be succeeded by a less liberal Macomb county democrat.
District 10 (N Macomb, the Thumb) Safe Republican.
Candice Miller is highly popular in Macomb County and statewide, and that isn't going to change.
District 11 (NW Wayne, SW Oakland, Troy) Safe Republican.
Republican Thad McCotter saw the most improvement in his district, trading increasingly democrat suburbs of Detroit in Wayne County for Republican areas of Oakland County. During his Quixotic presidential campaign, state senator Mike Kowall announced a campaign for the seat. He only recently dropped out; his campaign seemed more driven by geography than issues.
District 12 (Downriver, Ann Arbor) Safe democrat.
Democrat John Dingell, in Congress since Eisenhower's first term (really!), gets a new district that reunites his Downriver base. This successor of the old 15th district loses Monroe to Walberg. If Dingell ever leaves Congress, we could see an interesting Downriver versus Ann Arbor primary.
District 13 (W Detroit, Westland) Safe democrat.
This district contains the bulk of John Conyers' base, although Republicans drew him out of the district. Conyers, in Congress since 1964, hasn't had a tough primary or general election in decades. Conyers' image has been tarnished since his wife Monica, formerly Detroit city council president, pled guilty to bribery and is now serving time in federal prison. He is being challenged by state senator Glenn Andersen, whose base in the mostly white suburbs of Westland and Redford was moved from McCotter's district into the 13th. Senator Bert Johnson, who is a convicted felon since he robbed a country club at 19, is also running. Rep. Shanelle Jackson is also running in the democrat primary. There may be polarized voting between white suburban supporters of Andersen and black Detroit supporters of Conyers, Johnson, and Jackson.
District 14 (E Detroit, Southfield, Farmington, Pontiac) Safe democrat.
This district promises a very interesting primary. The majority of the district is the old 13th of democrat Hansen Clarke, who beat the scandal-plagued Carolyn Kilpatrick in 2010, though he was drawn out of the district. Congressman Gary Peters, whose old 9th district was split into four pieces, is running here. This is his best shot, although none of his options were good. The third candidate is Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence. Also running is former state rep. Mary Waters, who has pled guilty to filing a false tax return. I don't have a good sense of how this primary will turn out, but all of the first three have a legitimate shot.
