Michigan's 6th congressional district

Michigan's 6th congressional district is a United States congressional district in southwest Michigan. It consists of all of Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Van Buren, counties, and includes most of Allegan county. Its largest city is Kalamazoo.

Michigan's 6th congressional district
Michigan's 6th congressional district since January 3, 2013
Representative	Fred Upton R–St. Joseph
Population (2019)	721,508
Median household income	$56,520[1]
Ethnicity	82.2% White 8.4% Black 5.3% Hispanic 1.3% Asian 0.5% Native American
Cook PVI	R+4[2]

2011 redistricting removed the portion of Calhoun County that had been in the district, and added northwestern Allegan County, leaving only parts of the city of Holland in the 2nd district.

Major cities

• Allegan
• Benton Harbor
• Cassopolis
• Dowagiac
• Niles
• Kalamazoo
• Paw Paw
• Portage
• St. Joseph
• South Haven
• Sturgis
• Three Rivers

Voting

Election results from presidential races
Year	Office	Results
2020	President	Trump 51 - 47%
2018	Senate	James 50 - 47%
2018	Governor	Schuette 48.3 - 48.2%
2016	President	Trump 51 - 43%
2012	President	Romney 50 - 49%
2008	President	Obama 54 - 45%
2004	President	Bush 53 - 46%
2000	President	Bush 52 - 45%
1996	President	Clinton 46 - 44%
1992	President	Clinton 39 - 38%

History

Michigan's sixth congressional district was originally formed in 1862. At this time it had all the Upper Peninsula except Menominee, Delta and Mackinac counties.

The district was vaguely contiguous, in that it did not contain the Straits of Mackinac but did include Presque Isle County, which can be reached without going through another district's area. It included another 21 counties on the Lower Peninsula. The southern boundary of the district was formed by Clinton, Shiawassee, Genesee, Tuscola and Huron counties. The district had a population of 97,783.[3]

In 1872, the sixth district was shifted southward. It retained Clinton, Shiawassee, and Genesee counties while adding Ingham, Livingston and Oakland counties. With 163,000 residents the district had 12,000 more inhabitants than the next most populous district, and 65,000 more residents than Michigan's least populous district.[4]

In 1882, Shiawassee County was removed from the district. The new district had about 165,000 people. In 1892, Clinton County was removed but the townships of Livonia, Nankin (now Westland, Michigan and surrounding cities), Redford (including the eastern portion since annexed by Detroit), Greenfield (almost all now in Detroit, except the portion that became Highland Park, Springwells (since annexed by Detroit and Dearborn), and Dearborn in Wayne County were added, as well as the part of Detroit west of Lawton. This new district had a population of 190,539 that was 0.8% African-American.[5]

No changes were made in the boundaries of the district in 1902. Its population had risen to 221,699.[6]

It was not until 1932 that the boundaries of the 6th district were altered. In this year it lost its parts of Oakland and Wayne counties and was shifted to Ingham, Livingston, and Genesee Counties. These boundaries were not changed until 1964, when the district was redrawn to cover Jackson, Ingham, and Shiawassee counties.

In 1972, the district was redrawn to include Jackson, Ingham, and Livingston counties, as well as the western portion of Washtenaw County.

In 1982 the district was redrawn to Ingham, Livingston, and northwestern Oakland counties with a finger stretching all the way to Pontiac. Waterford Township was in the district, as was Auburn Hills, but Orion Township, Rochester Hills and Bloomfield Hills were all in other districts. The boundaries also included Independence Township, White Lake Township, Rose Township, Springfield Township and Highland Township. Brighton and the areas directly east of it in Livingston County were also not in this district. Most of Lansing was put in the 3rd district. In Jackson County the district covered Henrietta Township, Rives Township, and Tompkins Township. In Clinton County it included Bath Township. In Shiawassee County the district included Antrim Township, Perry Township, Perry, and Woodhull Township.[7][8]

In 1992, most of the old 6th's territory became the 8th district, while the 6th was redrawn to cover most of the old 4th and a small portion of the old 3rd, ending the splitting of Kalamazoo County between two districts. There were minor changes in the districts boundaries in 2002 and 2012.

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Term	Cong ress	Electoral History
District created March 4, 1863
John F. Driggs	Republican	March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1869	38th 39th 40th	Elected in 1862. Re-elected in 1864. Re-elected in 1866.
Randolph Strickland	Republican	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871	41st	Elected in 1868.
Jabez G. Sutherland	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873	42nd	Elected in 1870.
Josiah Begole	Republican	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	43rd	Elected in 1872.
George H. Durand	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877	44th	Elected in 1874.
Mark S. Brewer	Republican	March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1881	45th 46th	Elected in 1876. Re-elected in 1878.
Oliver L. Spaulding	Republican	March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883	47th	Elected in 1880.
Edwin B. Winans[9]	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887	48th 49th	Elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884.
Mark S. Brewer	Republican	March 3, 1887 – March 3, 1891	50th 51st	Elected in 1886. Re-elected in 1888.
Byron G. Stout[10]	Democratic	March 3, 1891 – March 3, 1893	52nd	Elected in 1890.
David D. Aitken	Republican	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897	53rd 54th	Elected in 1892. Re-elected in 1894.
Samuel W. Smith	Republican	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1915	55th 56th 57th 58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd 63rd	Elected in 1896. Re-elected in 1898. Re-elected in 1900. Re-elected in 1902. Re-elected in 1904. .Re-elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Re-elected in 1910. Re-elected in 1912.
Patrick H. Kelley	Republican	March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1923	64th 65th 66th 67th	Redistricted from the At-large district and re-elected in 1914. Re-elected in 1916. Re-elected in 1918. Re-elected in 1920.
Grant M. Hudson	Republican	March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1931	67th 68th 69th 70th 71st	Elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928.
Seymour H. Person	Republican	March 4, 1931 – March 3, 1933	72nd	Elected in 1930
Claude E. Cady	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935	73rd	Elected in 1932.
William W. Blackney	Republican	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1937	74th	Elected in 1934.
Andrew J. Transue	Democratic	January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1939	75th	Elected in 1936.
William W. Blackney	Republican	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1953	76th 77th 78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd	Elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Re-elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Re-elected in 1946. Re-elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950.
Kit Clardy	Republican	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1955	83rd	Elected in 1952.
Donald Hayworth	Democratic	January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1957	84th	Elected in 1954.
Charles E. Chamberlain	Republican	January 3, 1957 – December 31, 1974	85th 86th 87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd	Elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Resigned.
Vacant		December 31, 1974 – January 3, 1975	93rd
Bob Carr	Democratic	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1981	94th 95th 96th	Elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978.
Jim Dunn	Republican	January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1983	97th	Elected in 1980.
Bob Carr	Democratic	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1993	98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd	Elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Redistricted to the 8th district
Fred Upton	Republican	January 3, 1993 – present	103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th 116th 117th	Redistricted from the 4th district and re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Incumbent.

Recent election results

2012

Michigan's 6th congressional district, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Fred Upton (incumbent)	174,955	54.6
	Democratic	Mike O'Brien	136,563	42.6
	Libertarian	Christie Gelineau	6,366	2.1
	Independent	Jason Gatties	2,591	0.7
Total votes			320,475	100.0
	Republican hold

2014

Michigan's 6th congressional district, 2014[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Fred Upton (incumbent)	116,801	55.9
	Democratic	Paul Clements	84,391	40.4
	Libertarian	Erwin Haas	5,530	2.6
	Green	John Lawrence	2,254	1.1
Total votes			208,976	100.0
	Republican hold

2016

Michigan's 6th congressional district, 2016 [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Fred Upton (incumbent)	193,259	58.6
	Democratic	Paul Clements	119,980	36.5
	Libertarian	Lorence Wenke	16,248	4.9
	Independent	Richard Miller Overton (write-in)	78	0.0
Total votes			329,565	100.0
	Republican hold

2018

Michigan's 6th congressional district, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Fred Upton (incumbent)	147,436	50.2
	Democratic	Matt Longjohn	134,082	45.7
	Taxpayers	Stephen Young	11,920	4.1
Total votes			293,438	100.0
	Republican hold

2020

Michigan's 6th congressional district, 2020[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Fred Upton (incumbent)	211,496	55.8
	Democratic	Jon Hoadley	152,085	40.1
	Libertarian	Jeff DePoy	10,399	2.7
	Green	John Lawrence	4,440	1.2
	Independent	Jerry Solis (write-in)	560	0.2
Total votes			378,980	100.0
	Republican hold

Historical district boundaries

2003 - 2013

1993 - 2003

See also

• Michigan's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

Notes

1. "My Congressional District".
2. "PVI Map and District List". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
3. Parson, Beach and Dubin. Congressional Districts and Data p. 119
4. Parson et al.Congressional Districts and Data p. 180-181
5. Parsons, Dubin and Parsons. Congressional Districts. p. 222
6. Parsons et al. Congressional Districts p. 359
7. Barone, Michael and Grant Ujifusa. The Almanac of American Politics. (Washington: National Journal, 1983) p. 576
8. http://www.censu.gov%5B%5D maps
9. Edwin B. Winans was elected as a fusion candidate, but was seated in Congress with the Democratic Party.
10. Byron G. Stout was elected on a Democratic and Union ticket in 1890 to the 52nd Congress.

References

• Govtrack.us for the 7th District – Lists current Senators and representative, and map showing district outline
• The Political graveyard: U.S. Representatives from Michigan, 1807–2003
• U.S. Representatives 1837–2003, Michigan Manual 2003–2004
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present