GOP SD-35 Primary: Beson Out, Saginaw-Based Attorney In

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 09/26/2025) Rep. Timothy Beson (R-Bay City) will not be a candidate in the special election in the Tri-Cities area-based 35th Senate District, saying that he has a "great opportunity" in the House and that he's pleased with at least two of the candidates he's met in the current Republican field.

Beson called MIRS in between budget meetings as he and other lawmakers hurriedly try to polish off the details of a Fiscal Year 2026 budget. The three-term lawmaker is the chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittees on Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) and the Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS).

"I was going to have a pig roast and say, let's cut the pork out of the budget, but it looks like we're getting it done," said Beson, who once owned a meat market and is well-known around town for his cooking.

Beson said he's met both Christian Velasquez and a new candidate in the race, Saginaw-based Jason Tunney, and feels either one would make a great state senator. Two other Republicans have filed to run for the seat, but he hasn't had an opportunity to meet either Chadwick Twillman or Andrew Carlos Wendt. Beson said he would not be endorsing in the Republican primary.

Beson is in his third term in the House. Under the state's new term limit rules, he wouldn't be able to run for two senate terms. He can run for three more House terms.

Tunney enters the race as an attorney in private practice, who served as the vice president and general counsel for the family company, Duro-Last, a manufacturer of commercial roofing products. The company was sold in 2022 and is now a division of Holcim Solutions and Products. Since then, he's been in private practice with his wife at Tunney Law.

A former assistant prosecutor in Saginaw for four years, the 53-year-old married father of three said he started looking into politics during the pandemic when the restrictions put in place by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer nearly shut down Duro-Last while its competitors in Texas, Ohio and elsewhere were allowed to stay open. It was only after the company also started making protective gowns and antiseptic wipes that they were dubbed "essential" and allowed to operate.

Still, the experience doesn't set well with Tunney, who noted that while the Governor's ability to declare rolling executive orders was addressed by the Supreme Court, her authority to essentially shut down businesses was not.

He said he's also agitated that the Governor "wasted state resources" in court fighting Enbridge's offer to encase Line 5 in a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac as opposed to leaving it on the lake bed.

Former Gov. Rick Snyder brokered a "common-sense solution" for the oil line, but it has been held up in court the last seven years.

He also supports bringing back the 3rd-grade leading law and making the state more attractive to businesses by reining back regulations and easing back on taxes.

"I love this state and the opportunities it has given me and my family," Tunney added. "If we don't act quickly in Lansing, we risk not only losing our talent but also our way of life. It's time for a change, and I am ready to lead that change."

Tunney said he's pretty well known in Saginaw and predicted that his campaign would be "well-funded."

"We will have the resources to go out and deliver a message to the residents of the 35th District," Tunney said.

MIRS has profiles of five of the nine candidates who have filed in the special 35th District election here. The deadline to file is 4 p.m. this coming Tuesday, Sept. 30.