(Source: MIRS.news, Published 01/11/2022) Rep. Joe Tate (D-Detroit) was elected Wednesday afternoon as Michigan’s first Black House Speaker with a 102-8 vote.
Tate, a third-term member, was nominated by Rep. Tyrone Carter (D-Detroit). He is the first Democratic Speaker elected since the Republicans took control after the election of 2010.
After a brief overview of Tate’s personal history, including his tenure with Michigan State University football and several National Football League teams and multiple deployments as a U.S. Marine, Carter referenced Tate's “strong” leadership with “a history of doing the work and bringing both parties together, to get the policy done for the people of Michigan.”
Carter’s nomination was seconded by House Minority Leader Rep. Matt Hall (R-Richland Township), who said the nomination was done in the spirit of bipartisanship that “should set the tone for the next two years in the House of Representatives.”
“With a commitment to the people in Michigan and the readiness to work together to reach our state's full potential, I proudly second the nomination of Rep. Joe Tate to serve this chamber and our great state as Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives,” Hall said.
Following a brief glitch of the voting board, which outgoing House Clerk Gary Randall said “just adds to the anxiety,” Tate was elected. The eight nay votes were cast by Reps. Steve Carra (R-Three Rivers), James DeSana (R-Carleton), Joseph D. Fox (R-Fremont), Neil Friske (R-Charlevoix), Mike Hoadley (R-Au Gres), Matt Maddock (R-Milford), Angela Rigas (R-Caledonia) and Josh Schriver (R-Oxford).
Tate called his official election one of the proudest days of his life, and added that though each of the House members spent months campaigning and earning votes, “the real work begins today with the start of the 102nd session of the Michigan Legislature.”
“Michiganders have placed their trust in us,” Tate said, “and we are obligated to overcome our differences in order to earn their confidence and make ourselves worthy of their vote.”
Following his selection, Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) was nominated as Speaker Pro Tempore with HR 2.
She received a 109-9-1 vote, with Rep. Andrew Beeler (R-Fort Gratiot) excused from voting shortly after the board opened.
No votes again came from Reps. Carra, DeSana, Fox, Friske, Hoadley, Maddock, Rigas and Schriver, along with Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay).
Senate Majority Leader Brinks Pays Homage To Diversity, 1st Female State Senator In Chamber Remarks
For Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids), the "unprecedented range of ideas, experiences and identities" that have now been welcomed into the Michigan Senate is more significant than the latest switch in party control.
"People who have in the past been excluded from the halls of power due to their race, religion, sexual orientation or gender are now senators with leadership roles in this chamber," said Brinks on the chamber floor as Michigan's first female Senate majority leader.
After Michigan's latest slate of senators was sworn in during their first session day of the 102nd Legislature, Brinks paid homage to previous Sen. Eva McCall Hamilton, a Grand Rapids Republican and Michigan's earliest female state senator from 1921 to 1922.
"Although our service in the chamber is separated by a century, Eva and I share many parallels. Elected from Grand Rapids, she spent her time in office fighting for the health and wellbeing of mothers and children, for fairer salaries for teachers and ensuring women had a voice in government," Brinks said.
Brinks expressed she couldn't "help but wonder what she will think of this moment," referencing how the Senate Democratic Caucus, upon winning 20 of the state Senate's 38 seats, selected Brinks to lead the chamber after acquiring majority control for the first time since prior to 1984.
"Like all Senate majority leaders, my portrait will be a simple photo much less impressive than Eva's portrait, and it will take its place in a small conference room lined with the photos of those who served as Senate majority leaders before me," Brinks said. "All of them similar in striking ways until mine."
Additionally Wednesday, Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield), Michigan's first openly gay state senator, was unanimously approved by the chamber to serve as president pro tempore of the chamber. Sen. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) was also unanimously approved to be the Senate assistant president pro tempore, and will be the first Afro-Latina and only member of Caribbean descent to hold the gavel in the chamber, according to Senate Democrats.
New Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Township) formally backed both of Brinks' leadership nominations, specifically commemorating Moss for his ability to "reach across the aisle and accomplish strong bipartisan policy achievements."
“I can attest to his respect for this institution, his dedication to public service and his dedication to time-honored procedures,” Nesbitt said.
As the first Republican to lead a minority Senate caucus in several decades, Nesbitt said that Michigan "is not Washington, D.C." He added that as he looked throughout the latest group of senators, he spotted the faces of Democratic and Republican colleagues alike that he's worked together with on important issues.
"I fully expect we continue in this term to work together," Nesbitt said. "The people we represent are struggling. The high cost of goods continues to burden Michigan families, whether at the grocery store or the lumber yard."
He called for collaborative legislation on making Michigan a better place for small businesses to grow and prosper, as well as to improve education in Michigan by ensuring parents are included in academic decision-making and that youths have options when it comes to higher education and skilled trade programs.
Although eight Republican representatives offered opposition votes in the House chamber when it came to the new speakership of Rep. Joe Tate (D-Detroit), nearly all items in the Senate were approved unanimously.
However, one voice of objection came early from Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake), who was concerned about a Senate rules resolution providing too much power to the Senate majority leader by making them the chief administrator of the chamber, responsible for giving the final approval for all operational expenses.
Runestad said he submitted a request to leadership that a two-thirds vote in the chamber be given for the Senate majority leader to have that authority, but it was not accepted.
"I was not able to get that done, so I'll be voting no," Runestad said.
