Advocacy News – Feb. 4, 2026
Democrat Chedrick Greene and Republican Saginaw attorney Jason Tunney won their respective primaries Tuesday night in the 35th Senate District, advancing to the May 5 special General Election. The special Senate election will replace now-U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City), who left her state Senate seat at the end of 2024, leaving the Senate split 18-18.
Why it matters: The 35th Senate District, which covers the tri-cities areas, is one of the most competitive Senate districts in the state. The outcome of the November election will determine whether the Senate returns to a 20-18 majority for Democrats or is split 19-19. Under a divided power scenario, Democratic Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist would be able to break a tied vote, but only if all members are present.
- One thing to note: The Governor waited 238 days after McDonald Rivet vacated her the 35th Senate District seat to call a special election — the longest such delay by any Michigan governor since the state adopted a full-time legislature in the 1960s.
Go deeper: Unofficial results of Tuesday’s election show there were almost 45,00 total votes cast ballots cast: 26,624 for Democratic candidates compared to 18,229 for Republican candidates. By comparison, last two special Senate primaries (2021) had about 25,000 total votes.
- At the time of writing, Greene won with 60% of the vote in a six-candidate field, which was a race between him and progressive state Board of Education President Pamela Pugh, the whole time. Pugh finished with 28% of the vote. The remaining four candidates combined for the remaining 12%. On the Republican side, Tunney defeated former Dow Executive Christian Velasquez 51% to 43% with two other candidates combining for seven percent.