A desk in Michigan’s state Senate chamber remains untouched, gathering dust as days turn into months. The 35th Senate District is without a voice, leaving more than 270,000 Michiganders unheard in Lansing—legislative limbo.
Yet, as the residents wait for their rightful representation, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer remains conspicuously silent.
This silence is not just negligence—it’s blatant hypocrisy. Whitmer has a strong record of promptly calling special elections when it serves her political interests.
In the past six years, she has called 10 special elections to fill legislative vacancies, typically taking an average of just 17 days to announce them. In some instances, she moved with lightning speed, announcing election dates within 24 hours.
But now, more than 140 days have passed since former state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet left her seat to serve in Congress, and nearly three months have passed since her official resignation from the Michigan Senate. Still, no announcement from the governor’s office.
Why the holdup?
Recently, citizens from the Bay Region boarded buses and traveled to Lansing, demanding their right to full representation, just ahead of the governor’s annual State of the State address. But so far, all they’ve heard is silence.
What makes this delay even more egregious is that Whitmer clearly isn’t too busy to globetrot and promote her political profile.
Her itinerary has been packed with high-profile stops in San Francisco, Martha’s Vineyard, Seattle, Arizona, and Washington, D.C. And if that’s not enough, she has just announced yet another international trip to Europe.
The governor is making time for everything except the people of the 35th district.
There’s a glaring inconsistency here. The delay appears to be politically motivated—reportedly because Michigan Democrats are wary of facing Rep. Bill G. Schuette, a likely Republican contender, in a special election.
Since Democrat state House members from the 35th, who are natural Senate candidates, voted last year to cut school safety funding by 92%—a move that contributed to House Republicans becoming the only chamber in the nation to flip from Democrat to Republican under Schuette’s House Republican Campaign Committee chairmanship, as reported by MIRS—Whitmer’s political fears may indeed be valid.
However, they are not justifiable.
If true, this is not just a dereliction of duty but a strategic manipulation of democratic processes to maintain partisan advantage.
The balance of power in the Michigan Senate should not rest on one politician’s inaction. Whether the chamber becomes a 19-19 tie or shifts back to a 20-18 Democrat majority is not for Whitmer, or any single elected official, to decide. It is a decision for the people of the district.
In the event that Republicans flip the 35th District, their power would be restricted. No longer would a Democrat majority exist to pass divisive DEI resolutions and hamstring President Donald Trump’s America First agenda that prioritizes citizens over criminal invaders.
The residents of the 35th district are not second-class citizens, and they should not be treated as an afterthought.
Governor, do your job—call the special election now.
Greg Manz is a Michigan-based Republican strategic communications advisor and veteran of Steve Bannon’s War Room along with President Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government. Follow him on X: @Greg_Manz.
