Democrats are celebrating a boost in Michigan, as the party managed to hold on to the majority in the state Senate in a special election.
The election on Tuesday to fill the vacant seat in a deep purple battleground state and swing district has been viewed as a bellwether for the 2026 midterms as American voters sour on President Donald Trump.
Democratic candidate Chedrick Greene beat out Republican Jason Tunney to serve Senate District 35, the Associated Press confirmed. Tunney said afterward that he “fell short” but that “we’re just getting started.” Greene, a firefighter and military veteran, said in a statement, “We delivered this decisive victory by listening and speaking to the things keeping everyday people up at night — worries about affordability, safety, and freedom.”
MI Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel added in a statement, “Republicans ran with their typical playbook of bending the knee to Trump and putting corporations over working people, and it failed—miserably. With gas prices spiking and grocery bills up, it’s clear that voters are fed up with Trump and Republicans’ cost-raising agenda.”
The seat has been empty for nearly 18 months after Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet resigned, having been elected to the House.
Rivet won her last election by six points in 2022, but just two years later, Trump won the swing state in 2024 by just over one point, including all three counties that make up part of the 35th district.
Trump won Bay and Midland Counties by double digits in the last election, while he took Saginaw County by just over three points.
At the same time, the state in 2024 also elected Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, showing just how competitive it can be.
Now, both parties have their sights set on Michigan as part of the path to controlling the majorities in both the House and Senate come November.
“All eyes should be on Michigan’s special election in one of the most competitive districts in the country,” DLCC president Heather Williams told Daily Beast ahead of the special election.
While much of the focus on Tuesday’s elections was on the Ohio and Indiana primaries, Williams argued that a Democratic victory would help boost the momentum all the way to November.
Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer held off on scheduling the special election as the Senate majority was on the line after Republicans flipped the Michigan House in 2024.
Greene’s victory allows Whitmer’s party to keep a 20 to 18 Senate majority. Had Democrats lost, it would have resulted in a 19-19 split, leaving Democrats zero margins for error in the state as the Democratic governor was the tie-breaking vote.
Now, Democrats not only will keep the state Senate, they believe it puts them on a path to flip the state House and give Democrats a trifecta in the state once again in the midterms.
At the same time, the Democrats’ victory comes as the Michigan Senate race is open with the retirement of Sen. Gary Peters at the end of his term.
Republicans see the state as one of their greatest opportunities to pick up a seat in the U.S. Senate with their candidate Mike Rogers come November.
The former congressman lost to Slotkin in 2024 by just 0.3 percent, and even picked up both Bay and Midland Counties. Rogers campaigned for Tunney ahead of the special election on Tuesday.
But for Greene, the race has been all about affordability, which Democrats have been hammering home for months and plan to keep the focus on through November.
“It sounds so cliche, but it is about affordability. It really is,” Greene told Daily Beast before the election.
He warned that people on the campaign trail have been raising concerns to him about making ends meet while energy costs continue to climb, with prices soaring even more recently due to the war in Iran.
The result in Michigan on Tuesday was the latest in a series of special elections where Democrats have seen victories since Trump returned to office.
While the seat there was open, Democrats have managed to flip 30 district seats across the country from red to blue since Trump was reelected in the growing sign that the U.S. has the potential to see a blue wave come November.
