Now that the elections have wrapped up, the Michigan Congressional Delegation will see two new members- Lisa McLain replaces the retired Congressman Mitchell and Peter Meijer wins the former Representative Amash seat in Kent County. The make-up of our Congressional Delegation stays at 7R – 7D.
The State House has stayed at a 58R-52D margin after the Democrats flipped two open GOP seats (Portage in Kalamazoo County and Novi), but then two Democrat House incumbents lost to their GOP challengers (Rep Brian Elder from Bay City and Rep Sheryl Kennedy from Genesee County). Other expected Democratic gains in Oakland County and Traverse City failed to materialize, leaving the margin the same for the next term.
Two sitting state senators won election to county offices, leaving their seats open for a special election next year – State Senator Pete Lucido won the open Macomb County Prosecutor position and State Senator Peter MacGregor won his election to be the Kent County Treasurer. The Governor will be asked to call special elections to fill those vacancies sometime in 2021.
Of the new members elected to the State House, a number of the newcomers have municipal backgrounds that will be invited to be part of our Legislative Municipal Caucus:
- David Martin (R) is a former Davison City Councilmember
- Mark Tisdel (R) is a former Rochester Hills Councilmember
- Kelly Breen (D) is a former Novi City Councilmember
- Samantha Steckloff (D) is a former Farmington Hills Councilmember
- Regina Weiss (D) is a former Oak Park City Councilmember
- Richard Steenland (D) is the Roseville City Clerk and former city councilmember
- Amos O’Neal (D) is a former Saginaw City Councilmember
- John DaMoose (R) is a Harbor Springs DDA Director
- Stephanie Young (D) former manager within the Mayor’s Department of Neighborhoods, Detroit
With the election almost settled, the Michigan House of Representatives was in on November 9th and each caucus selected new leadership for the coming 2021-22 legislative session.
Republicans, as expected, selected current Speaker Pro Tempore Jason Wentworth (R-Clare) to be the next Speaker of the House. On his team will be Pamela Hornberger (R-Harrison Twp) in the Speaker Pro Tempore role. Rep. Ben Frederick (R-Owosso, and former mayor) will be the Majority Floor Leader and Rep. Andrea Schroeder (R-Clarkston) will be the Whip.
Democrats selected Rep. Donna Lasinski (D-Scio) to replace term-limited Minority Leader Christine Greig (D-Farmington Hills). Rep. Yousef Rahbi (D-Ann Arbor) will also continue his role as the Minority Floor Leader.
On the Senate side, with the expected resignation of Sen. Peter MacGregor (R-Rockford), as he assumes his new role as Kent County Treasurer, Sen. Dan Lauwers (R-Brockway) will take over the role of Majority Floor Leader in that chamber.
Midwest Strategy Group compiled this document with results from Federal and State elections for a more detailed breakdown of all races.
Chris Hackbarth is the League’s director of state & federal affairs. He can be reached at 517-908-0304 and [email protected].