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If there was one defining feature of Michigan politics in 2025, it wasn’t a policy fight or legislative vote. It was about how power was used.
The year was marked by procedural brinkmanship, court battles, and strategic delays as lawmakers and statewide officials repeatedly tested the limits of their authority.
Sure, there were some compromises. But actual policymaking and governing oftentimes took a backseat to political positioning.
With that in mind, we bring you, dear fellow political nerds, our Top 10 Michigan politics stories of 2025:
1. The budget standoff
Michigan’s 2025 budget dragged past the October 1 constitutional deadline with a divided Legislature unable to pull off its single most essential constitutional function. Lawmakers spent months (and months and months) trading public barbs, while dealmaking happened behind closed doors. Democrats argued Republicans wrapped wedge issues into the negotiations at the expense of progress on a spending plan. GOP leaders insisted they were demanding fiscal responsibility. By the time the bipartisan compromise finally passed shortly after the October deadline, it was clear the players had wiggled their way past a fiscal crisis. In the end, all sides appeared to declare victory (even if a certain independent candidate for governor used the chaos to his advantage.)
2. The “9 Bills” controversy
Nine bills left in legislative purgatory triggered one of the more consequential (and maybe a little overlooked) constitutional fights in recent Michigan history. After House Republicans refused early in 2025 to send legislation passed during the previous session - when Democrats controlled the Legislature - to Governor Whitmer, Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel ruled Republicans should release the bills. But Patel declined to issue an order to enforce her decision, citing separation of powers concerns. The case then went to the Michigan Court of Appeals, which ruled the bills must go to the governor. House Republicans have appealed that ruling to the Michigan Supreme Court. The controversy launched a year of strained relations (to say the least) between the House GOP and Senate Democrats.
3. A deal over minimum wage
Lawmakers reached one of the year’s few bipartisan agreements early in the year: a compromise on minimum wage and earned sick time policies after the state Supreme Court’s “adopt-and-amend” ruling struck down a 2018 legislative effort to alter two petition initiatives without supermajorities. Governor Whitmer quickly signed the legislation, giving workers clarity and businesses predictability. But progressives were incensed at rolling back elements of earned sick leave and minimum wage schedules as well as the fact that Republicans got to violate the Michigan Constitution and still walk away with a policy win.
4. Gary Peters’ surprise retirement
Senator Gary Peters’ surprise decision early in the year to step away from the U.S. Senate seat he’s held for more than a decade created significant ripple effects in Michigan politics heading into 2026. It opened a competitive Democratic primary that pits progressives against party establishment figures. Republicans are looking for a winner who can muster the enthusiasm of the GOP base with the financial resources necessary to win a competitive race. This is one of the biggest open statewide races in 2026 - alongside the governor’s seat - and will help to determine control of the U.S. Senate during President Trump’s final two years in office. The open seat guarantees national attention and money pouring into our purple state. So, yeah, the stakes are high. (Michigan hasn’t elected a Republican senator since 1994.)
5. Vacancy in the 35th
For nearly all of 2025, Michigan’s 35th Senate District - home to roughly a quarter-million residents - had no representation. The vacancy was created after then-state Senator/now-U.S. Representative Kristen McDonald-Rivet (D-Bay City) won a super competitive congressional seat. Governor Whitmer waited months before calling a special election, prompting a lawsuit aimed at forcing her hand. The stakes are legislative power: a vacant seat allowed Democrats to maintain Senate control throughout 2025, while a Republican win could create a tie. The lawsuit was dismissed after Whitmer set a special primary for February 3 and the general election for May 5.
6. Whitmer 2.0
Governor Whitmer spent much of the year balancing her duties in Lansing with her growing national profile. She raised eyebrows (and a blue folder to cover her face) as photographers were let in during her meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office. But there were payoffs to her “I’ll work with anyone” mantra, including a fighter jet mission stationed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County. Politico dubbed Whitmer “Trump’s favorite Democrat.” But now her new high-profile role with the Democratic Governors Association is fueling already-inevitable questions about her political ambitions beyond Michigan and sets her up to resume her role as Trump bete noir.
7. Benson vs. House Republicans
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson spent the year defending her office from a series of threats and subpoenas from the Republican-controlled state House. The standoff over election materials highlighted untested legislative powers and the strain they can place on the balance of power between branches of government. Some of the conflict overlaps with politics: Benson is running for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2026, and the GOP-led House Oversight Committee clearly wants to put her on the defensive.
8. Pot for potholes
The Legislature approved a new 24% wholesale tax on marijuana to fund road repairs, sparking immediate controversy and legal challenges. The Michigan Cannabis Industry Association argues the tax violates the voter-approved 2018 initiative that legalized recreational marijuana. The state argues the purpose of the tax is not marijuana regulation, but funding roads - cannabis just happens to be the revenue source. Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel (yep, her again) declined to block the tax before it takes effect on January 1 while the cannabis industry has vowed to fight it up to the Michigan Supreme Court.
9. Data centers take center stage
A sleeper issue became a statewide flashpoint in 2025. Plans for new AI data centers drew local protests across Michigan over fears about electricity costs, water demands, and transparency. The politics didn’t fall neatly along party lines. Some Democratic leaders touted economic benefits, while residents of all political stripes raised concerns about being saddled with utility costs and threats to quality of life. Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel is among the most prominent critics of data centers. The mix of state incentives, grassroots resistance, and national attention on AI infrastructure made this an unexpected political and electoral story, one that will influence legislation and campaigns in 2026.
10. (Another) budget fight
And, we end where we began. A new budget imbroglio launched just two weeks ago as Michigan House Republicans unilaterally cancelled about $645 million in previously approved work projects… basically because they could. House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) said this is about banishing waste, fraud and abuse, but he’s ready to negotiate restoring some of the projects once they’ve been vetted under a retroactive application of his HEAT (Hall Ethics, Accountability, and Transparency) plan. Even some Republicans winced at the cuts and Democrats are plainly ready to make campaigning on some of the harsher clawbacks part of their 2026 election strategy - when every seat in the Legislature is on the ballot with House and Senate majorities at stake.
Wait, what? What’s that you say?
Every single state House and state Senate seat is up for election next year?
And an open governor’s race and an open U.S. Senate seat, plus the entire Michigan Congressional delegation?
And we didn’t even get to the open Attorney General and Secretary of State races or the fact that you’ll decide whether to convene a convention to rewrite the state constitution (!!)
2026 is going to be a year for the books in Michigan politics and we’ll dive right in in the first IJP newsletter of the new year (we’re looking at you Friday, January 2)!
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Have questions about Michigan politics in the new year? Or, just want to let us know what you want more of (less of?) in the newsletter? We always want to hear from you! Shoot us an email at politics@michiganpublic.org!
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Yours in political nerdiness,
Rick Pluta & Zoe Clark
Co-hosts, It’s Just Politics
