Voters in the Saginaw Bay region made their decision Tuesday night in the long-awaited special primary elections for Michigan's open state Senate seat.
Chedrick Greene, a veteran and Saginaw fire captain, is the Democratic nominee.
During his victory speech at a Bay City union hall, Greene said voters now have a clear choice.
"A leader grounded in working-class experience, who has put his life on the line for three decades defending our freedoms and protecting Michiganders. Or an out of touch Republican who is too MAGA to denounce this administration's violent violations of our constitutional rights," he said.
"Our only hope to protect and build on our working class to make life more affordable, safe and free in this great state is for all of us to do our part to win this seat and keep Republican extremists out of power."
Voters selected Saginaw lawyer Jason Tunney as the Republican nominee in a close race.
He said Greene and Michigan Democrats are too focused on federal issues and are avoiding local ones like education scores.
"All those things that he mentioned, are those Lansing issues? Are those Michigan issues? They're trying to run on federal issues because they know they can't run on the Democrats' record in the state of Michigan. It's flawed, it's wrong, and it's
broken," said Tunney.
Tunney said he's focused on growing Michigan's job market, supporting police officers and improving the state's education scores.
"In order to make this a business friendly state, a state that is growing, a state that people want to move to, a state that young people want to come to, we need jobs. We need jobs that they can have, that they can build families with, that they
can buy homes with," he said.
Unofficial results show Greene and Tunney each carried over 50 percent of the vote.
The May general election will determine if the Democratic Party can hold a slim 19-18 majority in the state Senate.
The 35th state Senate district has been vacant since Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet left the seat in January 2025.
