When Curtis Hertel Jr. became one of just 10 Democrats in the Michigan state Senate in 2014, the idea that his party might one day regain control of the state legislature was beyond far-fetched. Republicans have held firm majorities in the state Senate since 1984 and the state House of Representatives since 2011. In the last round of redistricting, the GOP gerrymandered the body to the point that it was essentially impossible for them to lose.

But everything has changed ahead of this years midterm contests. In 2018, Michigan voters put an independent redistricting commission in charge of drawing new district maps. Last year, the commission approved maps that were significantly more competitive than their predecessors, a change that has fueled Democratic hopes that the state Senate majority and potentially control of the state House too is finally up for grabs in 2022.

For the first time in a very long time, I feel like were playing on an even playing field, Hertel told HuffPost. Weve been playing a rigged game for three decades here in Michigan, and finally for the first time, its not rigged. We have maps that are even.

Democrats have routinely been hammered at the state legislative level over the last decade: Between 2010 and 2018, the party lost hundreds of state legislative seats nationwide, and successful Republican gerrymandering schemes have rendered many majorities almost totally out of reach. In 2020, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, a party political arm, poured record sums of money into such races, but failed to flip a single state legislative chamber.

The independent redistricting commission, though, has suddenly provided Democrats a path forward in Michigan, turning it into the biggest state legislative battleground of the 2022 cycle.

We see Michigan as a huge opportunity because of the newly drawn fair maps, said Jessica Post, the DLCCs president. Its at the top of our flip list.