Chedrick Greene Wins SD-35 Special Election

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 05/05/2026) Saginaw City Fire Captain Chedrick Greene won in the special 35th state Senate race Tuesday night by 19 points (58.87% to 39.42%), restoring Democrats' 20-seat majority in the chamber. It also marks Democrats' 27th win out of 39 special legislative and congressional elections that have taken place so far this year throughout the country.

Greene's totals were a 19- to 18-point swing from the margin Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris put up in this district in 2024.

“We delivered this decisive victory by listening and speaking to the things keeping everyday people up at night – worries about affordability, safety, and freedom,” Greene said in a statement at 10:55 p.m. “I am excited to go to Lansing to fight for every policy and dollar that helps hardworking men and women build better lives here in Bay, Midland, and Saginaw counties and sets our kids up for brighter futures.”

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel Jr. said with gas prices spiking and grocery bills up, voters clearly are fed up with the president and Republicans' “cost-raising agenda.”

Meanwhile, Michigan Republican Party Chair Jim Runestad said while Democrats and some media members will try to use the special election as “some sort of national barometer,” Tunney had outperformed expectations and recent history shows there's “little correlation between special elections and General Election Day.”

“This is only the halfway point. As we head into November, the contrast between Chedrick and myself will only become clearer to more and more voters. I'm excited about what lies ahead, and I'm not going anywhere,” said Tunney, who intends on running for the rest of the year in the non-special elections, Tuesday night.

Tunney didn't deploy much of his notable personal wealth for the race and the Senate Republican Campaign Committee (SRCC) didn't either. Despite having $7 million in cash on hand, the SRCC spent only $200,000 in media buys, according to AdImpast's analysis. The philosophy was there's no point in spending millions to lose by a smaller margin.

After ad spending for Tuesday’s special general election peaked in late March and early April, TV spending was on a downward slope. Since the Feb. 3 primaries, Democrats outspent Republicans $1.21 million to $215,000.

Runestad said Tunney is in a prime position to win this seat in November.

Democrats and some Republicans laughed at this spin. Tunney lost in all three counties. In one Saginaw precinct, Greene won 383-8 with the Libertarian getting 4 votes.

Republicans tried targeting Greene by tying him to the Governor's decision to wait for a record-breaking period of time before calling special elections to replace now-U.S. Rep. Kristen Mcdonald Rivet (D-Bay City), who vacated the seat Jan. 3, 2025. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer didn't schedule special elections until the Senate seat had been vacant for 238 days, and as of Tuesday, the Midland, Bay and Saginaw County-based seat has been empty for 487 days.

They attempted to target Greene for not having the best public speaking skills as well, with Republican groups circulating clips of his March 24 forum with Tunney, an attorney who started his career at the Saginaw County Prosecutor's office.

But according to some political pundits, the win by Greene demonstrates Michigan Republicans experiencing the earliest impacts of President Donald Trump's disapproval rating. The Economist has Trump's approval rating as of Tuesday listed at -21.

In comparison, The Economist reported that at this point during President Joe Biden's administration, Biden's approval rating was at -8, and Trump's was at -11 at this time during this first term in 2018.

As of Tuesday, the average price of regular gas in Saginaw, Bay City and Midland was $4.84 per gallon, up from more than $3.78 a month ago and $3.24 a year ago.

Greene ran a campaign highlighting his background in the U.S. Marine Corps and as a firefighter, while also focusing on the district's economic obstacles and blue-collar demographics. For example, he talked about 60% of the district's households earning less than $60,000 annually, criticizing any economic pains taking place during Trump's second term.

Additionally, his campaign ran a negative ad against Tunney's family business, the Saginaw-based Duro-Last Roofing Systems, which they sold in 2023 for $1.29 billion to a subsidiary of a Swedish corporation.

According to The Downballot, Democrats won 41 of 67 special legislative and congressional races held in 2025 – or more than 61% of them – and flipped seven seats from red to blue. This year, they flipped five Republican seats, while Republicans have not flipped any so far.

Greene's victory represents the district continuing to trend blue, although by a notably tight margin. For example, then-Vice President Kamala Harris won in the 35th Senate district in 2024 with more than 49.68% of the vote, or by 1,316 votes against Trump.

Now-U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) won in the district with 50.45% of the vote, defeating Republican Mike Rogers by 5,365 votes, and McDonald Rivet – who endorsed Greene, who was her district assistant in her state Senate office – won the seat by more than 52.7% for her U.S. House campaign, or by 13,914 votes against Republican Paul Junge.

"Senate Democrats and their Washington D.C. allies spending millions to cling to a seat they're supposed to win isn't strength – it's a warning sign for them come November," said Greg Manz, the Michigan-based senior strategist for Direct Edge Campaigns. "This was a low-turnout, high-dollar scrimmage on friendly Democrat turf."

Looking toward November, Manz noted how the Senate Republican Campaign Committee (SRCC) in Michigan has more than $7 million in cash on hand, while the Senate Democratic Fund has $4.8 million.

During the spring fundraising period, Tunney's grandparents, John and Kathy Allen Burt, together donated $73,875 to the SRCC.

“Congratulations to the Democrats on burning multiple millions of dollars to keep a Democrat-held seat Democratic,” said Sen. Roger Hauck (R-Union Twp.), the SRCC's co-chair. “We've always been focused on winning a majority in the fall, while the Dems broke the bank to rent a seat for six months. Chedrick Greene knows that he won't be able to hide in his basement much longre."

Hauck said that Greene won't get a pass when spring voters begin paying attention, with general elections anticipated to have turnout that is two to three times greater than today's. There were 42,094 votes cast across the district.

Meanwhile, Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton), the campaign chair of the Senate Democratic Fund, said Greene is the right candidate to meet this moment.

“At a time when things feel unstable and chaotic, voters turned to a devoted public servant to lead. Republicans and pundits should take note – wedge issues and manufactured divisiveness will not win this year,” Camilleri said. “Integrity, honesty, and awareness of the real problems that Michigan families face will win the midterms, and Chedrick's landslide victory tonight is proof of that.”

Before Greene can be sworn into the state Senate, election results must first be certified by Midland, Bay and Saginaw Counties, and then forwarded to the State Board of Canvassers for the final certification.