Democrat Chedrick Greene wins Michigan Senate race, preserving Democratic control

Chedrick Greene’s victory in Michigan Senate District 35 preserved Democratic control of the Michigan Senate and kept the chamber’s narrow 19-18 balance from sliding into a tie that could have complicated Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s agenda. The special election, held Tuesday in a swing district that stretches across parts of Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties, also underscored how a single seat can now shape the state’s governing math.

The seat had been empty for nearly 16 months after Kristen McDonald Rivet resigned in January 2025 following her election to Congress in 2024. That gap left voters in the district, home to about 270,000 people in a manufacturing-heavy region, without representation in the Senate while lawmakers in Lansing dealt with one of the chamber’s slimmest majorities in years.

Greene, a Saginaw fire captain, former state Senate aide to McDonald Rivet and Marine veteran, defeated Republican Jason Tunney, a Saginaw-area lawyer and former executive at his family’s roofing company, and Libertarian nominee Ali Sledz. NBC News projected Greene the winner, and Tunney conceded. Greene had already shown strength in the Feb. 3 Democratic primary, where he won 60 percent of the vote, while Tunney prevailed in the Republican primary with 51 percent.

The seat was among the most closely watched in Michigan because a Republican win would have created a 19-19 split in the Senate. Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II can break ties only when the chamber is exactly divided and all members are present, a rule that would have made every absence and every vote matter even more in the final stretch of Whitmer’s term.

The district has long been competitive despite its Republican lean in presidential races. Donald Trump carried Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties in 2024, but Kamala Harris narrowly won Senate District 35 overall, 49.7 percent to 48.9 percent. McDonald Rivet also won the seat in 2022 with 53 percent, showing how quickly the district has swung between the two parties.

Both sides treated the contest as more than a local race. Whitmer campaigned with Greene in Bay City, Gilchrist rallied with him in Saginaw, and U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers went door to door for Tunney. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee called it the most competitive special election in the country in 2026 and said it invested $250,000 in Michigan Senate races this cycle. Republicans argued Whitmer waited too long to set the election, leaving the district vacant for nearly 500 days. With Greene’s win, Democrats avoided a legislative deadlock and kept their grip on one of the nation’s most closely watched state chambers.