2025 House Resolution 139

Whereas, Article V, Section 13 of the Michigan Constitution states: “The governor shall issue writs of election to fill vacancies in the senate or house of representatives. Any such election shall be held in a manner prescribed by law”; and

Whereas, The Legislature has provided for the manner of holding special elections to fill vacancies in the Senate or House of Representatives in the Michigan Election Law. Under MCL 168.178, “[t]he governor may call a special election as provided in section 634 . . . whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of state senator or representative after the term of service has begun for which the state senator or representative was elected.” Pursuant to MCL 168.634, “when a vacancy occurs in the office of senator or representative in the state legislature, the governor may call a special election in that senatorial or representative district or direct that the vacancy be filled at the next general election”; and

Whereas, The Thirty-fifth Senate District has been vacant since January 3, 2025, following the election of Senator Kristen McDonald Rivet to the Eighth Congressional District of the United States House of Representatives on November 8, 2024. The result of that election was certified by the Board of State Canvassers on November 22, 2024, and Senator McDonald Rivet submitted her resignation on December 18, 2024, effective January 3, 2025. Under MCL 168.178, when a state Senator or Representative resigns, their written notice of resignation is to be immediately transmitted to the Governor. Thus, the Governor has been on notice since at least December 18, 2024, and likely sooner, that there would be a vacancy in the Thirty-fifth Senate District as of January 3, 2025; and

Whereas, The Governor has not called a special election in the Thirty-fifth Senate District. The office has been vacant for nearly five months, and the Governor has made no move to restore representation in the state Senate for the hundreds of thousands of taxpayers who reside in this district; and

Whereas, The last time a vacancy in the Legislature was caused by the election of a member to another office, the Governor waited less than a month to schedule a special election. On November 7, 2023, Representative Lori Stone of the Thirteenth House District was elected mayor of the City of Warren, and Representative Kevin Coleman of the Twenty-fifth House District was elected to a partial term as mayor of the City of Westland. Representative Coleman submitted his resignation on November 13, 2023, and Representative Stone submitted her resignation on November 19, 2023. Both resignations were effective on the day they were filed. Just a few days later, on November 22, 2023, Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued a call for a special election to fill the vacancies in House Districts Thirteen and Twenty-five. The call established the filing deadline as November 27, 2023, scheduled the special primary election for January 30, 2024, and scheduled the special election for April 16, 2024. Those elected to fill the vacancy, Representatives Mai Xiong and Peter Herzberg, were sworn in on April 30, 2024; and

Whereas, The Governor’s failure to call a special election to fill the vacancy in the Thirty-fifth Senate District is a departure from her own past practice, denies the people of the Thirty-fifth Senate District equal representation in the state Senate, and deprives them of a voice to secure the civil and democratic rights which all Americans are constitutionally guaranteed; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we call on the Governor to call a special election to fill the vacancy in the Thirty-fifth Senate District; and be it further

Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Governor.