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David Nicholas: You’re listening to All Things Considered here on WCMU. I’m David Nicholas.
Voters in Saginaw, Midland, and Bay City are calling for a special election to fill an open State Senate seat that has now been vacant for over two months. Voters even protested outside the state capital before last month’s State of the State Address.
WCMU’s AJ Jones has been following the story. He joins me now to bring us up to date on the latest, and AJ what is at the crux of this? Why does this race matter right now?
AJ Jones: There is currently a one seat majority for the Michigan State Senate Democrats. Now, former state senator, Krista McDonald Rivet, resigned to join the US House and now there needs to be a special election to fill the seat in the tri-cities.
If the GOP were to win that seat, the chamber would be tied at 19, and Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist would become the tie breaking vote.
So, it's been four months and there's still no election call. So Republicans and local community members are expressing, you know, outrage. That's because the special election is contingent on Governor Whitmer initiating the special election process.
DN: OK, so it sits with the Governor. What has the Governor said about a timeline? An outline, a path to get us to the special election to fill the seat?
AJ: So we have very little indication from the Governor's office. However, on January 31st, I asked Governor Whitmer about it at the Northern Michigan Policy Conference. This is what she had to say:
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer: You know, we do have certain election dates that are written into law, but now we're... my legal team is looking at it and I'm sure they'll be coming and making some recommendations to me in the coming weeks.
AJ: Over her tenure as Governor, this is the second longest gap between a vacancy and an announcement. The capital news site, MIRS, says that on average she's made an announcement 17 days after a vacancy.
Back in 2023 the Democratic House majority was jeopardized when Democratic Party Reps Laurie Stone and Kevin Coleman won local races. Whitmer declared special elections and set dates for them the same week those seats were officially vacant. The Democrats won both seats.
DN: So AJ, at this point… that's where things are from the standpoint of the Governor's office.
What then now is there, outside of that a legal process that would still get us to calling a special election?
AJ: So in Michigan, the Governor has a lot of leeway and control over calling the election itself, right? The constitution says the Governor, quote, “May call a special election”.
The way it works is the Governor makes the declaration, it's kind of a formal thing, and sets the primary dates and the general election date. And then the Secretary of State administers the race with local officials.
There's general election dates lined up in the constitution. One is in May, one is in August and one is in September. The governor can choose.
DN: So at this point, what are the State Republicans saying about the election and where we're at right now?
AJ: So, Republicans have been quite vocal in calling for a special election declaration.
They're saying the relative silence from the governor's office is unfair, and they've accused her of playing politics to sort of protect the Democratic State Senate majority.
I had a conversation with Aric Nesbitt. He is the Republican Senate Minority Leader, and he is a candidate for Governor in 2026.
I asked him about the situation at a protest at the State Capitol, where State Republicans spoke to local protesters calling for an election. This is what Nesbitt had to say:
Aric Nesbitt: We know this is a competitive seat. The Republicans can win, and the Governor, for purely political reasons, is trying to prevent us from having representation in this district.
DN: How has the district voted traditionally up until now?
AJ: So it's a swing district.
It voted for President Trump and Representative Kristen McDonald Rivet in 2024, so presumably there's some level of ballot splitting up there.
Back when Kristen McDonald Rivett won the seat in 2022, the State Senate seat, there was a very competitive and expensive GOP primary that year, and McDonald Rivet didn't run against any primary challengers.
So, what could happen now, sort of looking back at that, it could come down to whichever party is more unified, comes down to candidate quality and whichever party's voters feel more motivated. That last part is really important, because off year elections generally tend to have lower turn out.
DN: AJ Jones, thanks for your reporting on this and thanks for taking the time to catch us up on the latest. We appreciate it.
AJ: Anytime.
