Greene wins 35th District special election with 58.9% of the vote

Chedrick Greene won the special election for Michigan State Senate District 35 on Tuesday, capturing 58.9% of the vote and preserving the Democratic majority in the state Senate.

The Saginaw Bay-area district has been without representation since January 2025, when Kristen McDonald Rivet resigned from the Senate after winning election to the U.S. House of Representatives. Greene, a Democrat, defeated Republican Jason Tunney, who received 39.4% of the vote, and Libertarian Ali Sledz, who earned 1.7%.

"Voters head to the polls in this Saginaw Bay-area district to replace Democratic Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, who resigned from the state Senate after she was elected to Congress in 2024." — NBC News

A total of 62,124 votes were cast across the three counties that make up the district, with more than 95% of precincts reporting in each county, according to NBC News projections.

Greene carries all three counties in the district

Greene won in every county that comprises District 35. The results by county, according to NBC News data:

  • Saginaw County: Greene 61.5%, Tunney 36.7%, Sledz 1.8%
  • Bay County: Greene 56.6%, Tunney 41.5%, Sledz 1.9%
  • Midland County: Greene 58.0%, Tunney 40.7%, Sledz 1.3%

The New York Times reported the same county-level margins, noting that Greene carried Saginaw by 25 points, Bay by 15 points, and Midland by 17 points.

A swing district in a battleground state

District 35 covers the cities of Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland. The race drew national attention because Democrats needed to hold the seat to maintain their slim majority in the Michigan Senate.

"Michigan Democrats are trying to hold their slim majority in the State Senate by defending a vacant seat in a swing district that includes Saginaw." — The New York Times

The district was drawn as a competitive seat and has been a focal point for both parties in recent election cycles. The special election served as an early test of voter sentiment in a state that remains a key battleground.

All three candidates are running again in November

The special election filled only a partial term. Greene, Tunney, and Republican Chadwick Twillman are all running for a full four-year term in the November general election, according to ABC12.

Tunney won the Republican primary in February but lost the May 5 special election to Greene. The November race will determine who holds the seat through the next full legislative cycle.

Deepfake lawsuit lingers from the primary campaign

The path to the special election was not without controversy. Tunney filed a civil lawsuit in January in Saginaw County Circuit Court against Jayden Scott, a 23-year-old Bay City resident accused of creating AI-generated deepfake videos of Tunney during the Republican primary campaign.

Tunney's attorney, Craig Horn, recently filed a motion asking a judge to enter a $157,000 default judgment against Scott, who has not responded to the lawsuit five months after it was filed, according to ABC12.

Scott is currently serving a 37-day jail sentence in Bay County Jail for contempt of court related to a separate child custody dispute.

The Michigan State Police also launched a probe into the deepfake videos, according to a May 25 report from MLive.

What happens next

Greene is expected to be sworn into the Michigan Senate shortly after the election results were finalized. His return to the chamber restores full Democratic representation in District 35 and keeps the party's narrow Senate majority intact heading into the November general election.