State Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City) officially resigned from the legislature after being sworn into in the U.S. House Representatives on Friday. McDonald Rivet represents Flint and the Tri-Cities as part of Michigan's 8th Congressional District.
McDonald Rivet’s resignation will leave the Michigan state Senate with Democrats and Republicans tied at 19-19 Senators each, leaving Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist as the tiebreaking vote, pending a special election.
She said whoever wants her seat should be able to appeal to voters down the middle.
“Someone who is interested in accomplishing real things, who is not overly political, is not engaging in the chaos and dramatic moments that are so frequent in our politics today,” she said.
McDonald Rivet didn’t name any potential successors, but did say she “heard a lot of really good names.” As for the prospect of a more narrowly divided state Senate, McDonald Rivet said that bipartisan consensus will be crucial to getting things done.
“It will require relationships and conversation on the other side of the aisle, and quite frankly I have always believed that policy that is crafted in the middle,” she said.
As for the next two years in Congress, McDonald Rivet said that lowering the cost of living would be one of her primary goals.
“Reinstating the expansion of the child tax credit, tackling the cost of prescription drugs making housing more available and more affordable,” she said. “It's pocketbook issues that I will focus on relentlessly while I'm here.”
President-Elect Donald Trump has promised to pursue a series of tariffs on Canadian imports at the start of his administration. McDonald Rivet said that, while she did support some limited, strategic tariffs, she opposed “anything that makes it harder economically for people and families in my district.”
"Overall, what tariffs ultimately end up being, are an equivalent of a sales tax on the American people,” she said. “People in mid-Michigan really can't afford to be paying more money for the things that they need on a day-to-day basis.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's office did not respond to our immediate request for comment about the details surrounding a special election to fill McDonald Rivet's 35th state Senate district seat.
