People in the Saginaw Bay region will have the chance to hear from the two major candidates running in the upcoming state Senate special election this coming Tuesday at Saginaw Valley State University. Democrat Chedrick Greene and Republican Jason Tunney are both from Saginaw and seeking elected office for the first time.
The election will fill the long-empty Senate seat in the state's 35th District after it was vacated by now U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet in January 2025. The result of the election will determine whether Democrats hold their control of the state Senate through the reminder of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's final term.
Multiple student organizations on the SVSU campus have come together to host the event, including both the campus Democrats and Republicans. The candidates will be answering questions submitted by the students, with some being taken from the audience.
Kevin Lorentz is an assistant political science professor at SVSU. He expects the questions to be directed towards current events.
"I imagine that since it's coming from college students, that the cost and affordability of higher ed, the Iran war will be front and center," Lorentz said. "I also think that general economic issues about affordability and so forth will also be kind of top of mind."
By the time the time Greene or Tunney take office in early May, the seat will have sat vacant for nearly 500 days. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer set a new record for her time in office, waiting 238 days to set dates for the special election, a power the Michigan Constitution gives solely to the governor.
According to Lorentz, this has made people much more vocal about the special election than they typically would be.
"I think there's a lot of interest on both sides," Lorentz said. "This has been a bipartisan issue in terms of how long the seat has gone vacant, so it's energized local Democrats and Republicans equally in that respect."
The forum is set to take place on Tuesday, March 24 at 7 p.m. inside the Malcolm Field Theatre for Performing Arts at Curtiss Hall. Doors will open at 6:40. It be be moderated Zoe Clark of Michigan Public and Chad Livengood of the Detroit News.
The event is free and open to the public, with attendees required to register ahead of time. More information can be found on the SVSU website.
