Posthumus Not Seeking Re-Election; More Election News

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 01/15/2026) House Majority Floor Leader Bryan Posthumus (R-Rockford) announced Thursday he would not seek another term in the state House in 2026, opening up the possibility of pursuing other roles entering the 2026 election season.

Posthumus said when he ran for the House in 2020, he said he would serve three terms, and he plans to stick to that commitment.

"It has been the privilege of my life to serve Kent County and the people of Michigan," he said. "Now the time has come to move forward to new endeavors on a different path. It is my hope that announcing at this time will ensure the people have the opportunity to elect the best possible candidate to replace me.”

Posthumus represents the 90th House District, which covers Rockford, Cannonsburg and most of northern Kent County. The son of former Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus and brother of Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons, Bryan Posthumus has been a leading voice in a ballot initiative to require voters present a valid ID before receiving a ballot.

His name has also been mentioned as a lieutenant governor possibility for Republican gubernatorial frontrunner John James (R-Shelby Township) due to his experience with state government and his family connections in West Michigan.

No candidate has filed to run in the 90th District as of Thursday. The filing deadline is April 21.

Posthumus said in his press release that he will “work all the way through Dec. 31 representing my constituents in the Legislature to make sure House Republicans continue to use our majority to benefit the people of Michigan.”

He also pledged that he and his team will “work even harder than we did the past three election cycles to ensure we elect conservatives to the House,”

Republicans continue as the majority party and Matt Hall returns as Speaker of the House in 2027 under a Republican governor.

“We live in an era of hyper-partisanship, and the gap between Republicans and Democrats is enormous. The solutions we offer are often diametrically opposed to one another. However, the one thing that unites us is the desire to leave Michigan better than we found it,” Posthumus said.

In other news from the election front:

- Regina Ross, who ran for the Detroit City Council last year against Rep. Karen Whitsett (D-Detroit) and eventual winner Denzel McCampbell, filed to run in Whitsett's 4th House District. Whitsett has not said publicly whether she would run for re-election, although the early talk in the city is that she will not.

Ross, a professional educator and community councilperson for Detroit's 7th district, finished third last year in the city council primary with 24.8 percent of the vote, 872 votes behind Whitsett for second place. Ross came 59 votes away from beating former Rep. Fred Durhal for the city council in 2021.

- Johnnie Townsend, a Sterling Heights Republican, announced this week he is running in the 11th Senate District, currently represented by Sen. Veronica Klinefelt (D-Eastpointe).

He was the president of ICARE, a charitable foundation dedicated to fighting hunger, from 2019 to 2024. Last year, he ran for Sterling Heights City Council but finished 13th out of 13 candidates and did not advance out of the August primary. A three-year resident of the city, Townsend is an elected precinct delegate.

- Livingston County Sheriff Mike Murphy formally filed to run for the state Senate in District 22. He filed his campaign committee that allowed him to start raising money for the seat last March.

- Rep. Parker Fairbairn (R-Harbor Springs), Rep. Steve Frisbie (R-Battle Creek) and Rep. Jennifer Wortz (R-Quincy) all filed to run for a second term this week. Fairbairn represents the 107th District, Frisbie the 44th and Wortz the 35th District.

- Sen. Michele Hoitenga (R-Manton) this week filed for re-election in the 36th Senate District. This would be her final eligible run for the Legislature if she's successful.

Profiles on all of these candidates and more than 220 more for state-level offices are available on the MIRS Election Guide.