I was actually going to post that Michigan one too because of MI-01. I actually think it used to be gerrymandered going down to Bay County on the eastern sidea which is far more Democratic. I think it's much more sensible as is now despite giving the Republicans an overwhelming majority. When the most sensible looking district is the only swing dustrict, you know the rest is natural. Sure, there are some odd shapes down south but they are really just changing it from pvi +30 to pvi +25. At that point, let the people get a congressman from their own party. The primary is effectively the election.
How on earth is splitting Lansing fair?
Yeah, District 8 is easily the worst part of that map (which is a pretty great example, BTW). It looks clean but it's really a vicious gerrymander meant to sink/split the Lansing area, which by all rights ought to have its own lean-D district.
You are correct. I often missed that because Mike Rogers managed to win by double digits in recent years despite the low PVI (R+2). I assume that he rode in during 2000 and the party protected him just enough. That is pretty despicable. The whole map probably has to be redrawn because of the city split, but District 7 should logically have Battle Creek instead.
