The vacant desk on the floor of the Michigan Senate is starting to collect dust.
More than 270,000 Michigan residents have no voice in their state Senate.
Is Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ever going to fulfill her duty to announce special election dates to fill the vacant 35th Senate District seat? All we’ve heard is crickets.
More than 115 days have passed since former state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet was elected to her new seat in Congress.
It’s been nearly two months since U.S. Rep. Rivet officially resigned her Michigan Senate seat to be sworn into her new office in Washington, D.C. Still, crickets.
This past week, protesters from the Great Lakes Bay Region traveled by busload to Lansing to demand full government representation and make their voices heard ahead of the governor’s annual State of the State address. The 35th District includes parts of Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties.
Did she hear them? We’re still not sure.
Crickets.
The governor has called for 10 special elections to fill open legislative seats over the six years since she’s been in office, taking around 17 days on average to fulfill her constitutional obligation. This kind of timeframe is understandable, given our governor’s busy schedule.
And she’s had a lot on her plate lately, like traveling the country from San Francisco to Martha’s Vineyard and Seattle to D.C. to keep up with her national book tour while also finding time for overseas adventures to Spain and Dubai. But we also know she’s able to act fast.
In fact, it was just a year ago, after two seats were vacated in the Michigan House, that she had special election dates announced within 24 hours.
What’s the holdup? We’ve heard enough crickets.
This week, during her State of the State address, the governor said she’s “been to all 83 counties — at least twice — and sat down with all kinds of people. When you show up and listen, it’s clear that most of us want the same things, and we’re all frustrated by the same things too.”
Maybe it’s time she returns to Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties so she can hear from voters who are frustrated because they have no representation in the Michigan Senate.
She also said her “north star has always been collaboration. That’s what governing means. You work with anyone to get things done.”
That is why I encourage her to also work with the next state senator from Michigan’s 35th District, whoever voters decide it should be. It should not be up to her or me or any other single elected official to determine if the state Senate operates with a new 19-19 tie or returns to a 20-18 split for the remainder of the current legislative term. That is a question for the voters of the 35th District.
It’s one thing to say all the right things. It’s another thing to lead by example. Government for the people and by the people is the foundation of our American constitutional republic. There is no provision for state government for the people, by the governor.
Stop stalling, governor.
It’s time to call for a special election so that all Michiganians have a voice, and we can continue our work to put Michigan first.
State Sen. Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, serves as the Senate Republican Leader and represents Michigan’s 20th Senate District. This op-ed appeared in the March 2, 2025 edition of The Detroit News.