LANSING – There would be about 25 to 35 truly competitive Michigan House seats under a new legislative map drawn by Republicans that will be unveiled Friday, Gongwer News Service has learned.

And unlike the current map, the remainder of the “safe” House seats for Democrats and Republicans would be pretty evenly split.

Last-minute negotiations on the maps, both for the House and Senate, were still going on with the Legislative Black Caucus. It was unclear whether those issues would be resolved by the time Republicans present their maps.

But at this point, it appears Detroit House seats will be nudging into surrounding communities more so than the current map. Right now, the 1st House District includes part of Detroit, Harper Woods and the Grosse Pointes, the 5th House District includes part of Detroit, Highland Park and Hamtramck and the 11th House District covers part of the city and Dearborn.

Detroit lost population in the last Census and now has 714,000 residents. Currently, there are 12 Detroit-based House seats, so without adding some population from surrounding areas that representation level would drop.

In Macomb County, which added population in the Census, the 32nd House District, currently represented by Rep. Andrea LaFontaine (R-Richmond) would lose its St. Clair County portion and become entirely a Macomb County seat.

It also appears St. Clair Shores, which is part of the 24th House District represented by Rep. Anthony Forlini (R-Harrison Township), and Eastpointe, which is part of the 42nd House District represented by Rep. Harold Haugh (D-Roseville), would be combined into one House seat.

The seat held by Rep. Jeff Farrington (R-Utica) would still be somewhat competitive as it retains the Utica and Sterling Heights mix.

In Wayne County, Rep. Dian Slavens (D-Canton Township) in the 21st House District would appear to be getting a stronger Democratic seat. Southern Wayne County and the Monroe County seat of Rep. Dale Zorn (R-Ida) would still remain competitive between the two parties.

Washtenaw County, as previously reported by Gongwer, will see four self-contained seats, which apparently will be to the detriment of Rep. Rick Olson (R-York Township) in the 55th House District. Mr. Olson will lose the portion of Monroe County he currently has and will be gaining some Democratic territory in Washtenaw County.

But the reshuffling in Washtenaw County will help Rep. Mark Ouimet (R-Scio Township) in the 52nd House District. That seat typically has been competitive between the two parties but will now trend more GOP.

Further north, the 103rd, 105th and 106th House seats will all see a reshuffling of counties north of M-55. Republicans control all of those seats now, but the 103rd and 106th have flipped back and forth between the two parties. The 106th will become a more Alpena-based seat, which shouldn’t affect Rep. Peter Pettalia (R-Presque Isle) who lives just north of that community.

Under the map, part of Kent County would no longer be in the 74th House District with Ottawa County.

But in giving Ottawa County three safe Republican seats there now will likely be a primary between incumbents on the GOP side for the new House seat drawn on the outer suburbs of Grand Rapids.

To the south of that, the Kalamazoo and Calhoun county-based House seats appear to be similar to the current map, leaving Rep. Margaret O’Brien (R-Portage), Speaker Jase Bolger (R-Marshall) and Rep. Kate Segal (D-Battle Creek) untouched.

The 85th House District seat, which currently is based in Shiawassee County, will lose its Clinton County portion and have part of neighboring Saginaw County attached. That could make it slightly more competitive, but still Republican-leaning despite the change.

The Ingham County seat currently held by Rep. Barb Byrum (D-Onondaga) also would remain competitive. The 67th House District includes most of the county save for the most of Lansing and parts of the northern portion including East Lansing and Williamston.

The Genesee County seat held by Rep. Paul Scott (R-Grand Blanc) would also remain fairly competitive between the parties.

Gongwer also has learned of some major changes in the Senate districts with significant political implications.

The 32nd District, now held by Sen. Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw Township), currently consists of Democratic-leaning Saginaw County and strongly Republican Gratiot County. Mr. Kahn cannot seek re-election in 2014 because of term limits, and the seat will be hotly competitive. The changes would give the district some of Genesee County, more friendly turf to a Democrat.

The Oakland County seats also would be significantly reconfigured. Much of what is now the 13th District held by term-limited Sen. John Pappageorge would instead reach north to grab Rochester and Rochester Hills, becoming more Republican.

The 12th District seat held by Sen. James Marleau (R-Lake Orion) would instead have more of the northern part of the county after giving up the Rochesters.

One of the most interesting changes of all affects Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Lawton) whose 20th District currently consists of Kalamazoo County and two townships in Van Buren County, one of which is where Schuitmaker resides. Kalamazoo County, which has grown in population, will drop the Van Buren portion and become a standalone seat.

That will leave Schuitmaker with the decision of whether to move to Kalamazoo County to retain her political base. Or she could remain in Lawton and run for a new seat that will contain Van Buren County (which she represented in the House) as well as Allegan and part of Kent County.

The Kalamazoo County seat is one of the most politically competitive in the state, and if Ms. Schuitmaker decides not to move and instead run for the Van Buren-Allegan-Kent seat, it would become one of the most competitive races in 2014.

Meanwhile, shell bills for redistricting of the legislative and congressional maps were introduced Thursday in HB 4779 and HB 4780 .

House Democrats continued on Thursday to deride the timeline Republicans are pursuing to complete redistricting, saying the public will have little time to provide comment on such an important matter.

“There is one party driving the bus and they intend to drive it without proper input from the residents of Michigan,” said Rep. Woodrow Stanley (D-Flint).

Ari Adler, spokesperson for House Republicans, said the committee process is “underway like we do with all legislation.”

Rep. Pete Lund (R-Shelby Township), who is chairing redistricting in the House, said his caucus is offering maps that are more in line with the law than others. Lund said the House GOP map of the House will have fewer county breaks than others that have been submitted to the committee and show better compliance with the U.S. Voting Rights Act.

Both House caucuses will submit their maps to the clerk at noon Friday. Republicans have said they will provide media with the maps for the state House and U.S. House at that time, while Democrats were still figuring out Thursday how and when they would release their maps.

On the Senate side, shell bills for the congressional and legislative maps were introduced as SB 497 and SB 498 , respectively.

Maps drafted by Senate Republicans for the Senate are expected to be made publicly available Friday.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

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