Redrawn districts shake up 2022 election race for Holt candidates

These maps show the difference between boundaries of the old Michigan 23rd Senate district on the left, and the new Michigan 21st district on the right. 

DELHI TOWNSHIP, Mich.  – Candidates for the 2022 elections representing Holt-Delhi Township are preparing for the first election cycle since the most recent redistricting in 2020. “Michigan has non-partisan districting for the first time in its history,” said Curtis Hertel, Jr., current senator from Michigan’s 23rd Senate district. 

“My seat, which was a solidly Democratic seat and gerrymandered so as many Democrats as possible would be packed into one district, has shifted into two districts.”

Delhi Township, once part of the 23rd Senate district, now belongs to the 21st Senate district, which includes most of Lansing, southern and eastern Ingham County, and all of Eaton County.  The new district is less Democratic-leaning than the old 21st district, with Eaton County narrowly voting for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. 

With Senator Hertel unable to run due to term limits, the race for the open 21st Senate district seat is between Democrat Sarah Anthony, who currently serves as the representative from the 68th Michigan House of Representatives district, and Republican Nkenge Robertson. 

Senator Hertel stated his optimism about Representative Anthony’s success in the Senate race despite the change in voter base.  “She should win,” Hertel said. “The numbers are solidly on her side.”

Representative Anthony expressed that she’s the right person to bring together the people of the 23rd Senate District.

Lansing Catholic players Skype Colin Kaepernick

Lansing, Mich.- Michael Lynn III, Matthew Abdullah, Kabbash Richards and Roje Williams created controversy earlier this year when they took a knee during the national anthem at one of their Lansing Catholic football games. All four players received some kind of discipline from the school and were benched during the football game. The Lansing Catholic students did it to protest social injustice and it caught Colin Kaepernick’s attention. Last weekend, the boys skyped Kaepernick for 20 minutes and talked about their actions. 

“He showed me to be courageous and to stand up for what I believe in,” Richards said. 

Kaepernick came under scrutiny last year when he didn’t stand for the national anthem during an NFL game, a protest for what he says is police brutality against young African Americans. This caused a nation-wide protest, some saying it was blatant disrespect for the flag, but it also sparked a movement by others, including these four students.