Rep. Rashida Tlaib to run for re-election in Michigan's new 12th district

Rep. Rashida Tlaib announced Wednesday that she will run for re-election in Michigan's newly created 12th Congressional District. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Rep. Rashida Tlaib has announced that she will run for re-election in Michigan's newly created 12th Congressional District.

"The new 12th Congressional District contains nearly two-thirds of the people I currently serve," she said in her announcement on Twitter. "I'm excited to continue to fight for our residents and engage with new neighbors in Wayne and Oakland Counties."

Michigan lost a House seat following the last census, dropping its number of congressional districts from 14 to 13.

The two-term Democrat currently represents Michigan's 13th Congressional District, and said her constituents were divided between the newly created districts 12 and 13 following the reshuffling.

"Please know that no matter if you're in the new 12th or 13th, our work together will continue," she said. "I am excited about the opportunity to expand our work to include more communities that want the same access to a better quality of life, including clean air and water, affordable housing, economic justice and more."

Tlaib announced her re-positioning a day after Rep. Brenda Lawrence, who currently represents the 14th district, said she would not run for re-election.

Lawrence, Michigan's only Black member of Congress, did not specify a reason but said that as they have a new redistricting map, it was time for a new generation of leaders to step up.

"We need to make sure our elected officials in Michigan and across the country look like our communities," she said. "It is not lost on me that I'm currently the only Black member of the Michigan congressional delegation, in both the House and Senate."

In an interview with The Detroit News, Tlaib said many of Lawrence's constituents were redrawn into the new 13th Congressional District and many of hers were repositioned into the 12th.

"It's like they switched us," she said.

The announcement came as more than two dozen mostly Black lawmakers in Michigan are suing to block the newly created district maps from taking effect, WWMT reported.

The lawsuit states that the maps disenfranchise Black voters by splitting up minority communities.

"The African American has gotten such a short end of the stick, I don't think they got any of the stick," attorney Nabih Ayad said of the maps, according to WWMT.