Will Michigan Democrats maintain control of state Senate in November midterm?

With Michigan voters casting their ballots in the November midterm election, they are not only selecting leaders to represent them in the U.S. House and Senate but also choosing representatives for state seats.

While the state House flipped from Democratic to Republican two years ago, Democrats have maintained control of the Michigan Senate, which was not up for election that year. However, that can change in this election.

Democrats held control of all chambers in the state government in 2022, forming a trifecta for the first time in decades. But Republicans gained more than 55 of the 110 House seats in the 2024 presidential election. In the Senate, Democrats currently hold a two-seat majority (20 Democrats, 18 Republicans) and hope to restore the trifecta.

With Michigan set to have a new governor after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reached her term limit, the state government is expected to look quite different from what it has looked like over the last eight years. Part of the shake-up is Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks running alongside Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in the gubernatorial race. 

The move puts Brinks' 29th District seat open for a new senator. The district, which includes parts of Grand Rapids Township, Grand Rapids, and all of East Grand Rapids, Grandville, Kentwood and Wyoming City, has voted Republican and Democrat over the last 30 years.

If elected in the gubernatorial race, Brinks would become Michigan's first female lieutenant governor in more than 25 years, since Connie Binsfeld (1991-1999).

One of the seats that helped Democrats maintain the Senate majority earlier this year was the 35th District, which held a special election in May 2026. In that district, voters elected Chedrick Greene over Republican Jason Tunney and Libertarian Ali Sledz. The seat, which represents parts of Bay, Midland, and Saginaw counties, became vacant after former state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet was elected to the U.S. House in 2024. 

Greene will have to run again on Nov. 3, with the seat up for election for the full four-year term. Both Greene and Tunney have vowed to run. The district typically leans more Republican and has never elected a Democrat until McDonald Rivet in 2022.