Another Republican attempt to block Michigan's independent redistricting commission was dismissed Monday by a federal judge.

The state Republican Party's lawsuit argued that restrictions on who may serve on the new panel violated the free speech and free association rights of potential GOP commissioners — the same argument a federal appeals court rebuffed just three months ago.

Battleground Michigan has been at the heart of the gerrymandering debate since the start of the decade, when Republicans took control of Lansing and drew some of the most assertively partisan legislative and congressional maps in the country. In response, 61 percent in a grassroots-driven 2018 referendum decided to turn the next decade's line-setting over to a panel outside the control of politicians.

Judge Janet Neff ruled in favor of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson — signaling that the new lawsuit was ultimately no different, constitutionally speaking, from a remarkably similar lawsuit from the state party that was dismissed this spring by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.