{"id":776469,"date":"2026-05-06T04:33:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T04:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/776469\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T04:33:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T04:33:22","slug":"greene-wins-michigan-special-election-ensuring-democrats-keep-state-senate-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/776469\/","title":{"rendered":"Greene wins Michigan special election, ensuring Democrats keep state Senate control"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) \u2014 Democrat Chedrick Greene won a special election<\/a> in Michigan on Tuesday, securing his party\u2019s control of the state Senate through the remainder of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer\u2019s<\/a> term.<\/p>\n

Greene, a firefighter and Marine veteran, defeated Republican Jason Tunney, a former prosecutor, in the race for Michigan\u2019s 35th Senate District, which includes Saginaw and Bay City and is surrounded by more conservative rural areas. Democrats had held a one-seat majority in the chamber, putting control at stake.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want you to know who\u2019s had your back for 31 years and you can be sure I\u2019ll still have your backs in Lansing,\u201d Greene told cheering supporters at a watch party, referring to the state\u2019s capital city.<\/p>\n

Libertarian candidate Ali Sledz lagged far back in third for the seat left vacant since January 2025. Tunney conceded the 35th state Senate district race, saying he \u201cfell short\u201d but vowing to run again in November. The term at play in Tuesday\u2019s election runs only through the end of the year, leaving the seat up for reelection again in the fall. <\/p>\n

The race was closely watched as a potential indicator for the upcoming midterms in this battleground state. The district is located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Detroit and includes Saginaw, Bay City and Midland. It is seen as reflective of the entire state and includes part of Saginaw County, the only Michigan county to back the winning presidential candidate in each of the last five elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really this microcosm of the Midwest, frankly,\u201d said Democratic U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet of the seat she left upon entering Congress. \u201cGiven how much it resembles so many other places across the country, we have to look at it and say, this is an indicator of how things are going to go in November.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maintains Democratic majority in state Senate<\/p>\n

Whitmer, a Democrat, is term-limited, setting up a competitive race in November<\/a> to succeed her. With Democrats currently controlling the state Senate 19-18, Tuesday\u2019s outcome was crucial for deciding the state\u2019s legislative agenda in the months before she leaves office in January. <\/p>\n

Republicans had made the timing of the special election a central issue, arguing Whitmer, a Democrat, waited too long to call it \u2014 leaving the district without representation in the state Senate for nearly 500 days. <\/p>\n

Greene\u2019s victory keeps Democrats in the majority. Had Tunney prevailed, the Senate would have been tied, making it tougher for Democrats to advance their agenda. <\/p>\n

The Michigan House is controlled by Republicans.<\/p>\n

A temperature check on the electorate<\/p>\n

The race is being watched as a test of voter sentiment ahead of the midterm elections, when Democrats are looking to regain power in Congress. <\/p>\n

John Hall, a 69-year-old self-described independent, said Tuesday that he voted for Greene with the economy the pressing issue for him. He said he spent $58 at the gas station before driving to the public library in Bay City to vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s taking a bite out of a lot of people\u2019s budgets right now,\u201d Hall said, adding it would have cost between $35 and $40 to fill up his car\u2019s tank two months ago.<\/p>\n

Some strategists caution against overinterpreting the results, noting heavy Democratic spending and high-profile visits by such figures as former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee said in February that the special election would \u201cset the tone for midterms\u201d while announcing a $250,000 investment to help Michigan Democrats retain their Senate majority in May and November. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a tough race to win in any environment, but they\u2019ve stacked the deck with the spending. And you layer the overall political environment on top of it, it\u2019s going to be tough,\u201d said Jason Roe, a Republican strategist in the state.<\/p>\n

Although Republican Donald Trump carried all three counties in the 2024 presidential race, the portions of the counties that fall within District 35 are more competitive. McDonald Rivet won the seat in 2022 with 53% of the vote. Democrat Kamala Harris barely edged Trump in the district in 2024, 49.7% to 48.9%, on the strength of her 17-percentage-point lead in the Saginaw portion of the district.<\/p>\n

Once a hub of the auto industry, the region includes a large share of union-affiliated voters and a sizable Black population, surrounded by more conservative rural areas. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press reporter Robert Yoon contributed from Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) \u2014 Democrat Chedrick Greene won a special election in Michigan on Tuesday, securing his party\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":776470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[7373,318117,318116,69,90,59975,57,45810,318115,318114,318113,27593,318087,7801,214,74652,50,45811,80,1765,89,61,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-776469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-2026-elections","10":"tag-ali-sledz","11":"tag-bay-city","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-elections","14":"tag-elissa-slotkin","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-gretchen-whitmer","17":"tag-jason-roe","18":"tag-jason-tunney","19":"tag-john-hall","20":"tag-kamala-harris","21":"tag-kristen-mcdonald-rivet","22":"tag-mi-state-wire","23":"tag-michigan","24":"tag-midterm-elections","25":"tag-news","26":"tag-pete-buttigieg","27":"tag-politics","28":"tag-saginaw","29":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","30":"tag-u-s-news","31":"tag-united-states","32":"tag-unitedstates","33":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116525767544019448","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=776469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}