Prestin Running In SD-38 With McBroom, U.P. Reps' Blessing; LaFave Staying In Race
- Team MIRS
- Oct 22
- 4 min read
(Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/22/2025) Rep. Dave Prestin (R-Cedar River) announced Wednesday he's running next year in the Upper Peninsula-based 38th Senate district, less than 24 hours after former Rep. Beau LaFave also announced for the seat.
Behind the scenes, LaFave has been lobbying for the Senate practically since the day he was term-limited out of the seat in 2022, so Prestin's entrance into the race with the support of current Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Twp.), Rep. Karl Bohnak (R-Negaunee) and Rep. Greg Markkanen (R-Hancock), LaFave's current boss, was notable.
Republican Upper Peninsula lawmakers are a tight-knit group. A split of this nature among them is unusual. However, concerns that the bombastic and polarizing LaFave could hurt Bohnak's re-election in the competitive 109th House District was mentioned by one insider as an issue.
This wasn't mentioned in the official comments, however. What was noted was the work Prestin, a first responder and small business owner, has done on energy and health care issues, two areas of deep interest to Yoopers.
"Dave Prestin has proven time and again that he's a strong voice for the people of the Upper Peninsula. After working alongside him for years, I know that he's pragmatic, grounded, and committed to solving real problems impacting the U.P.," said McBroom in today's press release. "Dave is unquestionably the best choice for this job."
Said Markkanen: "Dave brings a serious and studied approach to this job and that sets him apart. For him, it’s not about the title or the attention, but about solutions that matter for the people of my district. That is why I am certain he will continue to be a powerful voice in Lansing for the Upper Peninsula, this time in the State Senate.”
MIRS learned McBroom gave LaFave a heads-up about the decision last week, but that didn't lessen the sting of the decision. LaFave and McBroom have been personal friends for years. LaFave has been Markkanen's chief of staff for the last three years.
Complicating the decision is that Prestin hasn't been angling for the Senate for months as LaFave has been. One neutral insider noted that Prestin has “basically skipped every political event on the calendar this summer and fall, including the Friends of UP events.”
Prestin has hired the professional campaign firm Bright Spark with Heather Lombardini, who has experience in state Senate races and competitive Republican primaries.
MIRS has also learned that the hope was LaFave could be convinced to run for Prestin's House seat, and he'd serve his six allowable years in the Legislature in the state House under the new term-limit law. However, LaFave didn't want to move into the seat and had his heart set on the Senate, even though he could only serve one four-year term under the state's new term limit laws. Prestin could serve two Senate terms.
The 38th Senate District is not viewed as politically competitive outside the primary. McBroom won re-election in 2022 by more than 25 percentage points.
LaFave attempted to run for Secretary of State three years ago in a party-run Republican endorsement convention, but lost to Kristina Karamo, the controversial conservative activist.
Also running in the district is Republican Chris Reynolds, a social studies teacher and high school football coach at the Mid-Peninsula School District in Delta County.
Prestin won in a four-person Republican primary with 43 percent of the vote during the summer of 2022, defeating the runner-up, used car sales specialist Mike Simon, by 1,867 votes.
Prestin spent four years serving on the Menominee County Board of Commissioners, as well as nine years on the Alger Delta Electrical Cooperative Board of Directors, overseeing the energy cooperative with more than 10,000 U.P. members. He has volunteered as a paramedic and firefighter for the last 15 years.
In his House account, Prestin reported raising $25,652 from Nov. 26, 2024 through July 20 of this year. Meanwhile, LaFave left the House with a closing balance of $2,513 in his candidate account, which was reportedly still there in January 2024. When he tried running for Secretary of State, LaFave had brought $12,962 into his candidate account from January to August 2022.
"Every decision I make starts and ends with one question: What's best for the people of the U.P.?" Prestin said in his press release. "You need to only look at the realities facing us, from hospital closures and EMS staffing shortages, to crippling energy costs for residents and businesses alike, to what is taking place with our population to understand why I am dialed in on these issues."
On social media, LaFave told those watching the race to replace McBroom to remember "that I was born here, I was raised here, and I'm willing to die defending it."
LaFave talked about introducing Articles of Impeachment against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, fighting against mask mandates in schools and vaccine protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic and opposing the "overreaching" Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
His inflammatory comments and open wars with social media trolls have been a lightning rod for critics, but it's also raised his visibility considerably. LaFave's Facebook post announcing his candidacy has 1,400 likes and more than 100,000 impressions. Prestin's post had 86 likes as of 10 p.m. Wednesday.
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