Democrats appear poised to hold onto their narrow majority in the Michigan Senate after Democrat Chedrick Greene defeated Republican Jason Tunney in a special election on Tuesday, May 5, according to unofficial results.
Two Lansing-based political wire services, Gongwer Michigan and MIRS News, had called the race just after 10 p.m. Tuesday. Just after 10:30 p.m., Greene led Tunney 60% to 38.3% with 55.3% of the expected vote in, according to unofficial precinct results. The district covers communities in Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties.
“We delivered this decisive victory by listening and speaking to the things keeping everyday people up at night — worries about affordability, safety, and freedom,” Greene said on social media.
Greene’s victory restores a 20-18 advantage for Democrats in the Michigan Senate and ensures Republican lawmakers can’t block bills by abstaining from a vote.
Picking up a relatively competitive seat in a special election is also an encouraging sign for Democrats as the political calendar barrels toward the midterm elections, when a U.S. Senate seat, the governor’s office and more key races will be on the ballot in Michigan.
Tuesday’s results maintain a national trend for Democrats outpacing Republicans in recent special elections. Analysis by the website POLITCO found in more than 200 state and federal elections since the 2024 presidential election, Democrats have made gains compared to their 2024 results in significantly more races than Republicans.
“Chedrick Greene just rounded out our special election season with a decisive victory in one of the highest-stakes battleground districts in the country,” Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said in a statement.
Historic trends show the party in power in the White House typically fares poorly in midterm cycles, and Tuesday’s results likely set off a few warning signs for Michigan Republicans. President Donald Trump faces record-high disapproval ratings amid high fuel prices due to the ongoing U.S. war in Iran, as well as continued economic inflation, although there are still six months for those trends to turn around before November.
Greene is a U.S. Marine veteran and a firefighter in Saginaw. He previously told the Free Press boosting funding for public schools and increasing support to expand manufacturing jobs in Michigan are among his key legislative priorities.
Tunney, an attorney operating a private practice in Saginaw, conceded the race just after 10 p.m. Tuesday. In a statement, he noted the seat will be up for grabs again in November.
“This is only the halfway point,” Tunney said. “As we head into November, the contrast between Chedrick and myself will only become clearer to more and more voters. I’m excited about what lies ahead, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Sen. Roger Hauck, R-Mount Pleasant, and co-chair of the Michigan Senate Republican Campaign Committee, said in a statement Democrats heavily outspent Republicans in the special election and the GOP will continue to vie for the district in November.
“We’ve always been focused on winning a majority in the fall, while the Dems broke the bank to rent a seat for six months,” Hauck said in a statement.
Because Michigan government is divided — Democrats control the Senate and the governor’s office and Republicans control the House — there hasn’t been a flurry of legislative movement out of Lansing in the current term. But holding onto their Senate majority is a boost for Democrats in budget negotiations. The House and Senate have both passed budget bills but still have to reach full agreement with each other and Whitmer’s spending plans before a budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year can be finalized.
You can reach Arpan Lobo at alobo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Democrat Chedrick Greene wins special election for Michigan 35th Senate District
Reporting by Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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