Republicans Retake Majority in Michigan State House Grassroots Midwest

With Donald Trump winning many of the battleground states, including Michigan, he can be credited with Republicans retaking the majority in the state house following Democrat control of the Michigan Governorship, Senate and House for the past two years. Republicans were able to pick up several key seats, including displacing four Democrat incumbents (Haadsma, Churches, Hill, Shannon) to get a 58 – 52 majority going into 2025.?

With Trump at the top of the ticket and Downriver and Macomb Counties trending red, Republicans were able to capitalize in the Shannon and Churches districts, which are primarily made up of blue-collar workers. For the first time in more than 70 years, Republicans were also able to take control of the Marquette seat by defeating incumbent Jenn Hill.??

The GOP’s ability to unseat Rep. Hill was driven not only by the Republican wave at the top of the ticket, but also by pairing a well-known Republican challenger with efforts to spotlight Hill’s support of initiatives that would shut down Line 5, which provides much of the Upper Peninsula’s natural gas. The Marquette seat has been “fools gold” for Republicans for many years but 2024 proved to be the year efforts to flip the district finally paid off.??

In Southwest Michigan Rep. Jim Haadsma was defeated by Steve Frisbie. Haadsma has been a target of the GOP for the last few elections as the district was previously held by Republicans. Blue-collar workers in the area trending red—not to mention Frisbie’s likely boost in support due to Trump being on the ballot—helped flip this key seat. Frisbie’s campaign also highlighted Haadsma’s support of state environmental legislation that was unpopular in the district, and honed in on education policy as a key focus of his agenda, connecting education policy to concerns around crime, which was among Michigan voters’ key drivers this election across the state.?

Republicans have elected Matt Hall to serve as Speaker of the House and Bryan Posthumus as Majority Floor Leader. Hall’s top priority going into 2025 is to reform the way the state budget is done, by including more transparency of earmarks. Democrats will also have new leadership within their caucus as Ranjeev Puri has been named the House Minority Leader for the 2025-2026 term.??

With Republicans in control of the House there will now be a block on highly partisan legislation from both parties. Governor Whitmer (D) and the Democrat-controlled Senate will now have to work in a bipartisan manner with the GOP-controlled House, and vice-versa.??

Slotkin Wins Senate Seat?

Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (D) has defeated former Congressman Mike Rogers to take over the Michigan Senate seat vacated by Debbie Stabenow. Slotkin has been popular amongst moderate voters in Michigan, managing to split the ticket in a state that voted heavily Republican at all levels.? Both Slotkin and Donald Trump won, indicating tens of thousands of voters cast their ballot for the Republican presidential candidate and the Democrat senate candidate. Slotkin outperformed Harris in all but 15 counties in Michigan, proving her positive messaging throughout the campaign resonated better with voters than simply campaigning on why Trump, or Rogers, was bad.??

Barrett Flips MI CD7?

One of the nation's most competitive (and expensive) congressional districts has flipped in favor of Republican Tom Barrett, who was able to defeat Democratic opponent Curtis Hertel by just under 16,000 votes. Barrett, who lost to Slotkin in this congressional district just two years ago, served 22 years in the US Army and two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives before being elected to the Michigan Senate in 2018. Republicans flipping this district also flipped the partisan balance of Michigan’s Congressional delegation to seven Republicans and six Democrats.?