Updates About Elections

Michigan voters will now have more than one proposal to consider at the ballot box this year. Americans for Citizen Voting, the organization behind the ballot initiative that would require voters to provide a valid photo ID before casting a ballot, recently turned in 750,000 signatures to the Bureau of Elections. Although the proposal required a lofty 446,198 registered Michigan voters, the group exceeded the requirement by over 300,000 signatures.

In addition to the voter ID requirement, the proposal would also eliminate the Affidavit of Identity option for those without IDs and lead to more aggressive efforts in ensuring non-citizens do not appear on voter rolls.

Republicans are praising the proposal for it’s efforts to strengthen election security. Previous polls have also demonstrated strong bipartisan agreement on requiring voter IDs, with more than half of democrats, 80% of republicans, and 70% of independents supporting a voter ID requirement. However, Democrats also have major concerns that this would limit constitutional access for voters who do not have IDs or whose identification could be withheld by family members to prevent them from voting.

The initiative will appear on the November 3rd ballot as Proposal 2.

With Representative Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park) announcing she will not seek reelection in 2026, the number of State Representatives opting not to run again in the House has risen to 20. The other Representatives are as followed:

• 2nd district: Tullio Liberati (D-Allen Park), is running for State Senate
• 4th district: Karen Whitsett (D-Detroit), is not seeking reelection
• 6th district: Natalie Price (D-Berkley), is running for State Senate
• 11th district: Donavan McKinney (D-Detroit), is running for U.S. Congress
• 15th district: Erin Byrnes (D-Dearborn), is running for State Senate
• 18th district: Jason Hoskins (D-Southfield), is running for State Senate
• 22nd district: Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth), is running State Senate
• 41st district: Julie Rogers (D-Kalamazoo), is running State Senate
• 54th district: Donni Steele (R-Orion), is running for State Senate
• 59th district: Doug Wozniak (R- Shelby Township), is running for State Senate
• 74th district: Kara Hope (D-Holt), is not seeking reelection
• 78th district: Gina Johnsen (R-Portland), is running for State Senate
• 80th district: Phil Skaggs (D-East Grand Rapids), is running for State Senate
• 84th district: Carol Glanville (D-Walker), is running for State Senate
• 89th district: Luke Meerman (R-Coopersville), is not seeking reelection
• 90th district: Bryan Posthumus (R-Rockford), is not seeking reelection
• 97th district: Matthew Bierlein (R-Vassar), is running for State Senate
• 101st district: Joseph Fox (R-Fremont), is running for State Senate
• 108th district: David Prestin (R-Cedar River), is running for State Senate

Former Representatives Jamie Churches (D-Wyandotte) and Lynn Afendoulis (R-Grand Rapids) have announced they are pursuing reelection to the State House. Churches is seeking her old seat in the 27th district, currently held by Rylee Linting (R-Wyandotte) who narrowly defeated Churches in the 2024 general election. Afendoulis, who ran in the 81st district in the 2022 cycle prior is now seeking election in the 90th district.

On Tuesday, February 3rd, the Special Election Primary was held for the 35th District State Senate seat. Former Marine and current Saginaw fire captain Chadwick Greene won the Democratic primary with approximately 60% of the vote, beating out Michigan Board of Education President Pamela Pugh, who finished with around 28% of the vote, with the four other candidates capturing the remaining votes.

On the Republican side, Saginaw Attorney Jason Tunney won in a tighter race, beating out Engineer and former Dow executive Christian Velasquez 51% to 43%. The other two candidates made up for the remaining 7%.

The 35th district seat was vacated in January 2025, following the swearing-in of former incumbent Kristen McDonald Rivet (D–Bay City) to the U.S. House of Representatives. The special general election between Greene and Tunney is scheduled in May.