Reps. Conyers, Clarke will trade districts

By Cameron Joseph - 08/22/11 09:40 AM ET

Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-Mich.) announced Sunday that he will run for the newly drawn 14th district, which includes portions of Detroit as well as its Oakland County suburbs to the north, rather than the 13th district he currently represents. 

The freshman Democrat's switch will allow longtime Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) to run for Clarke's seat, a better fit for him because its suburban areas are more heavily African American than those added to his current district.

The trade comes days after Michigan Republicans passed a new redistricting map that made both members' districts more suburban, something that had to happen because of Detroit's major population loss in the last decade. (Michigan lost a seat in the redistricting process.) The Motor City has shrunk to pre-World War I levels and is smaller now than it has been at any time since the auto industry opened there.

Clarke may face a primary challenger from the suburbs but would likely have the upper hand as most of the district is still in the city.

Both districts are heavily Democratic; the state GOP made them as Democratic as possible in order to axe the district of neighboring Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich).