Wearing yellow buttons that read “Free the 35th," conservative voters gathered outside the state capitol building in protest of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s State of the State address in February 2025.
They chanted “let them vote” as speakers called on Whitmer to set the dates for a special election to fill a vacant state Senate seat in the 35th District, home to around 270,000 people in one of the state’s manufacturing hotspots that includes the cities of Midland, Saginaw and Bay City.
Local Republicans like state Senate minority leader and gubernatorial candidate Aric Nesbitt accused Whitmer of playing politics at the rally.
“We know this is a competitive seat," Nesbitt said. "The Republicans can win, and the governor for purely political reasons is trying to prevent us from having representation in this district."
At the time, the district had been without representation for nearly two months after Kristen McDonald Rivet vacated the seat to join Congress in January 2025.
In Michigan, the state constitution gives the governor sole discretion to determine the dates for special elections when a seat in the legislature becomes available.
However, the people who attended the Feb. 26, 2025 rally in Lansing would have to wait until Aug. 29 to learn the dates for the special election. The 238 days it took Whitmer to call the race was the longest she waited to call one of these special elections in her tenure as governor.
While it is not clear why Whitmer waited so long to set the election dates, on the campaign trail in April, she emphasized the stakes of the election for the rest of 2026.
“This is an election that the whole state Senate teeters on,” Whitmer said.
The Democratic Party holds a one-seat majority in the chamber. A win for the GOP means Whitmer could spend the last few months of her tenure with a tied state Senate and a House of Representatives controlled by Republicans.
"This is an election that’s going to decide what kind of a budget we end up delivering in the next couple of months,” Whitmer said.
Now the waiting is over, as voters across the Great Lakes Bay Region head to the polls Tuesday to decide how power will be brokered in Lansing until the end of the year.
The candidates
Outrage over the delay to fill the seat motivated one Saginaw Township lawyer and businessman to run on the GOP ticket.
“I'm paying state taxes for a [state] Senator. And we're not being represented. This is un-American. This is no taxation without representation,” said Jason Tunney in an episode of the “Talk Midland” podcast.
Tunney is a newcomer to politics, who won the Republican nomination in February by a narrow margin. He's largely focused his campaign on local issues.
At a campaign forum at Saginaw Valley State University in March, he called for new tax cuts and assailed Michigan’s educational scores, which are some of the worst in America.
“We're 44th in 4th grade reading. Almost 60% of our kids in 3rd grade are not reading at grade level. We have a crisis,” Tunney said.
Local Republicans say they like his approach. Tunney voter Terrance Huiskens says the Democratic party has been bad for the state economy.
“Higher hunting and fishing fees, gas prices, I mean, it's all connected to their bad decisions in Lansing,” Huiskens said.
“Most of the government that costs them more money isn't coming from Washington or Donald Trump, it's coming from the state of Michigan and their local...authorities,” he added.
Democratic Primary voters overwhelmingly picked Chedrick Greene, a Saginaw Fire Department Captain and a retired 30-year Sergeant Major in the Marines.
Greene is also a newcomer to politics. He’s focused his campaign on national issues like affordability and rooting out what he calls "MAGA extremism" in politics. At a Saginaw Church in April, Greene told voters he knows what they’re going through.
“I'm running because I'm your neighbor. I'm running because I know what we need, because I've been through those challenges. I've been through assistance. I've come up and grown and I want to give back,” Greene said.
Major Democratic figures have touched down in Michigan to campaign for Greene.
Pete Buttigieg, the former Secretary of Transportation and presidential candidate, campaigned for Greene at a Midland coffee shop in March. At the event, he emphasized the need to elect Democrats who can bring down the cost of living.
“We should be finding ways to make it more affordable instead of putting tariffs on that drive that cost even higher,” Buttigieg said.
Local Democratic voters see the race to express frustration at President Trump amid the War in Iran and rising prices.
Wendy Flory explained why she turned up to Chedrick Greene’s coffee shop event.
“I'm just tired of the chaos and hatred, and I'd like to see this country helped to get back together,” Flory said.
What to expect
Early in-person voting ended Sunday in Saginaw County. It was not available in Bay and Midland Counties, because local clerks are not required to offer it in local races.
Kevin Lorentz, a professor of political science at Saginaw Valley State University, said early voting will likely have a minimal impact, and what matters most is turnout.
"I don't necessarily think it benefits one side or the other,” Lorentz said. “Where the benefit would come from, though, is...which side is able to mobilize their voters. Then it becomes a simple numbers game, who got more of their supporters to the polls.”
The district voted for President Trump by a narrow margin in 2024. However, over 8,300 more Democrats voted in the special election primary in February.
Internal GOP data obtained by WCMU says that the party expects to win by less than 500 votes if they meet all their turnout goals.
Tunney expressed confidence that he would win.
"I will not be outworked. I've knocked on over 8,500 doors already since the start of this campaign," he told WCMU in March.
If the race is close, Libertarian candidate Ali Sledz may play a outsized role in the end.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. To learn how to vote in this election, check out WCMU's voter guide for the 35th District special election.
Michigan Public’s Steve Carmody contributed reporting to this story
