LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – It’s been 201 days since Michigan’s 35th Senate District had representation in Lansing, but who’s counting?

Not Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Michigan law dictates she’s the only one who can call for a special election to fill the Bay City-Midland-Saginaw-area seat, and she refuses to do so.

Why is Michigan’s 35th Senate seat empty?

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In November 2024, then-State Senator Kristen McDonald Rivet (D) won her bid for U.S. Congress. She replaced retiring Congressman Dan Kildee (D). On January 3, 2025, every other district represented in Michigan’s House and Senate saw newly elected and incumbent lawmakers fill their seats for the new legislative term.

Residents, both in and out of the district, have cried foul for months over Whitmer’s refusal to call for the special election. Law dictates that special elections are left to the governor’s discretion, and change may not come until the next official election in 2026.

Whitmer’s move leaves roughly 270,000 in Mid-Michigan without representation in Lansing.

However, that’s not stopping potential candidates from calling her bluff.

Candidates file paperwork anyway.

Democrats Brandell Adams, former Bridgeport Township Trustee, and Pamela Pugh, President of the State Board of Education, have filed paperwork to run for Michigan’s 35th state senate seat.

 

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In addition, Republican Chadwick Twillman has submitted paperwork as well.  He announced his campaign on social media in March.

 

Playing politics.

Gov. Whitmer isn’t a stranger to calling special elections. When two state Democratic lawmakers won mayoral races in their home district in November 2023, Whitmer called for the special elections within six weeks.

In April 2024, Michigan Democrats retained their majority control in the House with the elections of Representatives Peter Herzberg and Mai Xiong, both Democrats.

In November 2024, Michigan voters turned the state red for President Donald Trump and upended the House democratic stronghold in Lansing by flipping those seats to a GOP majority. Now, the Michigan Senate boasts Democratic control by only one seat. A special election for the 35th district could maintain Democratic control or introduce a two-party deadlock with the election of a Republican.