By Brian Calley, SBAM President & CEO
While elections in Michigan have been close in the past, never in my 47 years have I seen such intense focus on Michigan at the national level. In terms of candidate visits, top surrogates, and dollars spent, this was truly a record setting election in our state. SBAM does not take positions on national elections, but naturally, most of the news is focused on federal offices. I won’t belabor those outcomes except to mention a few races that might have escaped your notice.
Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin won the election to replace retiring Senator Debbie Stabenow. This was the closest margin in the history of U.S. Senate races in Michigan. Republican Tom Barett has defeated Curtis Hertel to fill the 7th Congressional seat left open by Elissa Slotkin when she decided to run for Senate. Finally, Democrat Kristen McDonald Rivet defeated Paul Junge to fill the 8th Congressional District left vacant by retiring Congressman Dan Kildee. All other members of Congress from Michigan won reelection.
SBAM is highly engaged in state level races, where our Small Biz PAC makes endorsements of and contributions to pro-small business candidates. We are strategically and intentionally bipartisan and the swing nature of Michigan politics illustrates why that is so important.
Over the last two years, Democrats have enjoyed a “trifecta” in Michigan government, controlling the executive, legislative and judicial branches of Michigan Government. Previous to 2023, that had not happened in 40 years. But single-party control came to an end last night as all Republican incumbents running for reelection in the General Election won, and four incumbent Democrats lost their reelection. So, control of the lower chamber went from 56D-54R to 58R-52D. The SBAM Small Biz PAC made endorsements in 70 state house races and 68 of them won, meaning our win percentage was 97%.
But in a lesser watched and publicized race, two seats on the Michigan Supreme Court were up. In Michigan, while those races appear on the “non-partisan” portion of your ballot, the candidates are nominated by the political parties. Currently Justices nominated to run by the Democratic Party hold a 4-3 majority on the Supreme Court. With the retirement of Justice David Viviano, Democrats had an opportunity to expand their majority, and they did. Julice Kyra Bolden was reelected, and Kimberly Thomas won the open seat. That means Democrats expanded their majority on the Supreme Court to 5-2.
Now, SBAM’s attention turns to the upcoming “lame duck” sessions where we will be working to stop anti-business legislation from passing, and to secure changes to upcoming paid sick leave rules and preserving the tipped wage credit system for bars and restaurants.