All 110 seats in the Michigan House of Representatives are up for re-election in 2024. Each of Michigan’s 110 state House districts has a population of approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 U.S. Census.
While there are 110 seats in the Michigan House, the fact of the matter is that control will come down to a handful of seats – the rest are safely and reliably Republican or Democratic. This year, the following seats (listed numerically) are generally felt to be the ones that will determine who controls the House in 2025-2026 [An asterisk (*) means that one of the candidates in the race has a pro-chiropractic voting record or is supporting pro-chiropractic bills this session.].
27th District: This Wayne County district includes the southern part of Southgate, Wyandotte, Riverview, Trenton, Gibraltar, and Grosse Ile. First-term incumbent Jaime Churches (D-Wyandotte) won the district 50.8 to 49.2 in 2022, the second closest margin of victory in the state in a year when Trump, who carried the seat against Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016, was not on the ballot. As a first-term legislator, Rep. Churches has not had the opportunity to vote on pro-chiropractic legislation so far this session. Her opponent is Republican Rylee Linting of Grosse Ile, youth chair of the Michigan Republican Party.
31st District: This district is made up of parts of Lenawee, Monroe, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties. Incumbent first-term state Rep. Reggie Miller (D-Van Buren Township) has not had the opportunity to vote on pro-chiropractic legislation so far this session. Like in 2022, her Republican opponent is Raisinville Township’s Dale Biniecki, a retired 47-year owner-operator truck driver. Miller won in 2022 by a 52.3%-47.7% margin. Miller has a huge cash-on-hand advantage, but Trump on the ballot this year could level the playing field in Monroe County, the Republican core of the district.
46th District: This district includes the city of Jackson, Blackman and Leoni townships, and parts of Grass Lake and Summit townships in Jackson County, as well as the city of Chelsea and Sylvan Township in Washtenaw County. The first-term incumbent, Kathy Schmaltz (R-Jackson), serves as a member of the House Health Policy Committee. She won the district by about 9 points in 2022, but the Dem candidate had a troubled history and Dems essentially pulled out of the race. This year, Jackson Mayor Daniel Mahoney, considered to be a first-rate candidate, is the nominee. As a first-term incumbent, Schmaltz has not had the opportunity to vote on pro-chiropractic legislation so far this session.
54th District: This Oakland County district includes Bloomfield Hills, Orion Township, a portion of Auburn Hills, and portions of Bloomfield Township and Oakland Township. First-term incumbent Donni Steele (R-Orion Township), a member of the House Appropriations Committee’s Health and Human Services subcommittee, has not had the opportunity to vote on pro-chiropractic legislation so far this session. She won the district by 2.4 points in a tough race in 2022. Her Democratic challenger, Shadia Martini of Bloomfield Hills, is an entrepreneur who owns several companies.
*58th District: This Macomb County district is comprised of the city of Utica and portions of Sterling Heights, Warren, and Shelby Township. Three-term incumbent Nate Shannon (D-Sterling Heights) is no stranger to close races, winning in 2022 by a 51.33%-48.67% margin. However, no Democrat is defending a seat where Trump enjoyed greater support in 2020 than this one. Rep. Shannon voted in favor of pro-chiropractic bills in both the 2019-2020 (our auto no-fault bill) and 2021-2022 (our PLLC and PC bills) legislative sessions. Shannon’s opponent is Republican Utica City Councilman Ron Robinson.
*83rd District: This Kent County district includes parts of Grand Rapids and Byron Township, as well as the city of Wyoming. First-term incumbent John Fitzgerald (D-Wyoming) is a member of both the Health Policy and Insurance and Financial Services committees. As a first-term member of the House, Fitgerald has not had the opportunity to vote on pro-chiropractic legislation so far this session. He is, however, a co-sponsor of House Bill 5951, legislation that would codify Section 2706(a) of the Affordable Care Act (anti-provider discrimination language) in Michigan law. His opponent is former steakhouse chain owner and three-term state Rep. Tommy Brann (R-Wyoming), who lost his race for the Michigan Senate in 2022. Rep. Brann supported both our auto no-fault bill and our PC and PLLC bills during his legislative career.
103rd District: This Traverse City-based district includes many communities in parts of Grand Traverse, Leelanau, and Benzie counties. First-term incumbent Betsy Coffia (D-Traverse City) serves on the House Health Policy Committee. She has not had the opportunity to vote on pro-chiropractic legislation so far this session. In 2022, she was involved in the closest race in the state, winning by only 765 votes, 49.84% to 48.47%, over then-Rep. Jack O’Malley. Since being elected, Coffia has shown herself to be an outstanding fundraiser, and she has raised more money than any candidate this election cycle. Her opponent this year is first-time candidate Lisa Trombley, a Traverse City retired government contractor who worked for more than 30 years in Washington, DC. State Republicans are committing around $500,000 to Trombley’s campaign, so this promises to be one of the most expensive races in the state.
*109th District: This Marquette-area district contains all of Marquette, Alger, and Baraga counties, and part of Dickinson. Incumbent Jenn Hill (D-Marquette), a first-term member of the House, has not had the opportunity to vote on pro-chiropractic legislation so far this session. Like Rep. Fitzgerald in the 83rd District, she is a co-sponsor of House Bill 5951. Her opponent is Karl Bohnak of Negaunee. Bohnak was chief meteorologist at WLUC-TV Marquette for more than 30 years until being fired in 2021 for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Statewide Dems have supposedly reserved more than $1 million in ad buys for the UP, and Hill has a massive cash-on-hand advantage over Bohnak.
Other races that could affect control, should Republicans or Democrats have a particularly strong showing this November, include the 28th District (parts of Wayne and Monroe counties v- incumbent first-term Republican state Rep. Jamie Thompson of Brownstown is a Health Policy member), the 44th District (parts of Calhoun County), the 57th District (parts of Macomb and Oakland counties), and the 61st District (part of Macomb County).
Michigan Senate
2024 is not an election year for the Michigan Senate, as senators are in the second year of a four-year term. Each of Michigan’s 38 state Senate districts has a population of between approximately 212,400 to 263,500 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 U.S. Census. Democrats control the chamber for the first time since the early 1980s, with a slim 20-18 majority.
Even though there is no Michigan Senate election in 2024, the Democratic majority in the chamber (and possibly the majority in the Michigan House, too) could be affected by the results of November 5th. That’s because Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City) is running to replace Dan Kildee in Congress. McDonald Rivet represents Michigan’s 35th Senate District, which includes numerous communities in parts of Bay, Midland, and Saginaw counties. The 35th District is a swing district, and should McDonald Rivet win election to Congress, and then a Republican defeat the Democratic candidate to replace her in a special election next year, the chamber would be split 19-19.
In such a scenario, the parties would have a power-sharing agreement in which co-leaders and committee co-chairs alternate the times during which they preside. In the three times in Michigan history where a tie in one of the chambers occurred (1970 and 1972 in the Michigan Senate, 1992 in the Michigan House), the parties switched control monthly.
Theoretically, this election could affect House control in 2025-2026, too, if a sitting House member runs in the special election for the Senate seat, wins, and resigns from the Michigan House. So, one congressional election this year could have major ripple effects altering the control (and therefore the legislative agenda) of potentially both chambers of the Michigan Legislature. Stay tuned!
Michigan Supreme Court
This year, two seats on the Michigan Supreme Court are being contested. Justice David Viviano, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by former Governor Rick Snyder in 2013 and was re-elected to the court by wide margins in 2014 and 2016, announced in March that he would not be seeking reelection to the bench.
Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, an appointee of Governor Gretchen Whitmer who took her seat on the Court in 2023, is running to continue her current term on the court. She will face longtime Branch County Circuit Court Judge Patrick William O’Grady, who was nominated by the Republican Party at their August Convention.
In the race for the full, eight-year term, Democratic-nominated Kimberly Ann Thomas, a law professor at the University of Michigan Law School, will face Republican-nominated state Representative Andrew Fink of Adams Township.
The makeup of the Michigan Supreme Court – currently 4-3 in favor of Democratic-nominated justices – is extremely important, especially when it comes to the rights of patients and providers in Michigan’s auto no-fault system, which is consistently under fire in the courts and the Michigan Legislature and could be even more so with the recent passage of auto no-fault “reform” legislation in 2019 and subsequent legislative “fixes” being considered in the Michigan Legislature. The full effects of the “reform” legislation have yet to be seen, and it is almost a certainty that at some point the Michigan Supreme Court will have to rule on at least parts of the new law.
The MAC, as a founding and Executive Committee member of CPAN, an organization devoted to protecting auto accident victims and their health care providers, will be watching the 2024 Supreme Court race very closely.
