Hornberger Positioned To Replace DeBoyer On House Ballot

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 08/18/2026) Former House Speaker Pro Tem Pamela Hornberger said Tuesday she wants to replace Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay) as the Republican nominee in the 63rd House District after he was tapped as gubernatorial nominee John James’ running mate. At least one GOP source told MIRS she may have already locked it up.

Hornberger, who came 404 votes away from winning a state Senate seat in 2022, would be running in a new district that includes her home turf of Chesterfield and New Baltimore in Macomb County along with southern St. Clair County. She has three two-year terms left under the state's new term limits law.

“This wasn't in my plans,” she said. “I have a few other projects I was working on, but I feel as if it would be very helpful to have someone who has some name recognition run for this seat, someone who could hit the ground running.”

For 23 years, Hornberger taught mostly elementary school art in the East China School District, in St. Clair County, giving her some name recognition in that portion of the district. DeBoyer won this district with 64% of the vote in 2022, which wasn't a great Republican year.

To secure the nomination, she'll need to convince a majority of the executive committee members from Macomb and St. Clair counties, who live in the district. An estimated nine committee members will make the decision. One source told MIRS that Hornberger “already has it locked up,” even though former state Senate candidate Eileen Tesch and possibly others were mentioned as having interest.

“As it turns out, there's a whole lot of people who want me to come back and a whole lot of people who don't want me to come back,” she said.

If DeBoyer is formally nominated for lieutenant governor, he will not need to resign from the Legislature. Regardless of whether the Republican ticket wins or loses, DeBoyer can serve until the end of his current term, if he chooses.

A similar scenario played out in 2010 when then-Rep. Brian Calley was named Republican Rick Snyder's running mate. Calley was planning to run for the state Senate, but after his nomination, the executive committees of the impacted counties got together and nominated former Rep. Judy Emmons to take his place. Calley served in the House until the end of the term.