The next class of Michigan lawmakers picked their next legislative leaders Thursday.
Democrats will be running both the Michigan House of Representatives and Senate after big wins in this year’s election. The party also kept the governor’s office.
In the Senate, unofficial results show Democrats picked up three seats to expand their majority from 20-18 to 23-15.
Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) will serve as the next Senate Majority Leader. He said he wants the “most productive session in our lifetimes.”
“We have an ability here to find pathways forward on all kinds of new policy ideas. Our goal will be, again, to make sure that we can do big, bold things in this new trifecta,” Camilleri said.
He named energy, housing, and medicine affordability as some of his priorities for next term.
On the Republican side, Sen. Roger Hauck (R-Mt. Pleasant) will run his caucus as minority leader. He imagines finding common ground with Democrats on issues like education, affordable housing, and lowering the cost of health care.
Despite the heavy losses, Hauck still joked with reporters Thursday about each side working through some disorder as members cycle in and out.
“There will be chaos with them. There will be chaos with us. Hopefully there will be more chaos with them than us,” Hauck said.
Most members of both the Democratic and Republican caucuses will be new to the Senate next term.
Down the hall in the Michigan Capitol, the House of Representatives will be flipping to Democratic control next year.
House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton) will assume the role of speaker. This session, Puri led a relatively fresh caucus that had lost the chamber during the 2024 election.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Associated Press had called 62 out of 110 House races for Democrats. It’ll be a far larger majority than before, when every single Democrat needed to vote yes on a bill for it to pass.
Puri said that lets his party “dream bigger.”
“I don’t want to spend much time litigating who’s playing in what sport or who’s using which restroom. I’m hoping that we can actually move the needle in talking about meaningful problems and solving meaningful problems to help everyone in Michigan succeed,” Puri told reporters.
He’ll be the first person of South Asian heritage to lead either chamber of the Legislature. Despite being American-born to parents from India, Puri wore a hat that read “immigrant” to drive home the significance.
House Republicans are switching up their leadership. After two terms running his caucus, in both the minority and majority, Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.) lost his bid to stay in charge Thursday.
Instead, Republicans went with Rep. Tom Kunse (R-Clare).
Aggressive policymaking goals and an antagonistic relationship with Democrats have somewhat defined Hall’s tenure as speaker. Notably, he was a driving force behind a multibillion dollar roads deal that also delayed the Fiscal Year 2025 budget.
Kunse said he believes Hall has done great things for the caucus, but believes himself to be the best person to lead it in this moment. He plans to be more collaborative with Democrats.
“Democrats are not the enemy. Being 45th in education is the enemy,” Kunse told reporters. “Gas is expensive. Affordability is the issue. So, there are things we’re going to work with Democrats on and there are some things that we’re going to have differences on.”
