Judge orders Gov. Whitmer to respond to lawsuit over refusal to call Senate special election

The Michi­gan Court of Claims has agreed with a law­suit filed by cit­i­zens of Michi­gan’s 35th Sen­ate dis­trict demand­ing they be giv­en rep­re­sen­ta­tion in the State Sen­ate and the law­suit is mov­ing for­ward.

“This case con­cerns one of the most fun­da­men­tal guar­an­tees in a rep­re­sen­ta­tive democ­ra­cy: the right of the peo­ple to actu­al­ly be rep­re­sent­ed in their leg­isla­tive body, the law­suit reads.

“Since Jan­u­ary 3, 2025, the res­i­dents of Michigan’s 35th Sen­ate Dis­trict have been deprived of their con­sti­tu­tion­al­ly guar­an­teed voice in the Michi­gan Sen­ate. Exhib­it A. Despite Arti­cle V, § 13 of the Michi­gan Con­sti­tu­tion plain­ly declar­ing that “[t]he gov­er­nor shall issue writs of elec­tion to fill vacan­cies in the sen­ate or house of rep­re­sen­ta­tives,” the Gov­er­nor has not act­ed and has not explained why not.”

Via the Mid­west­ern­er:

Michi­gan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 270,000 con­stituents in state Sen­ate Dis­trict 35 are done wait­ing.

“In a demo­c­ra­t­ic repub­lic, the absence of rep­re­sen­ta­tion is not a mere incon­ve­nience – it is a denial of one of the most fun­da­men­tal polit­i­cal rights,” reads a law­suit filed in the Michi­gan Court of Claims on Sun­day. “Every leg­isla­tive day that pass­es with­out a sen­a­tor from Dis­trict 35 silences an entire com­mu­ni­ty in the law­mak­ing process.”

Court of Claims Judge James Robert Red­ford con­curred. In his deci­sion ren­dered Tues­day morn­ing, Red­ford grant­ed the plain­tiffs’ motion for expe­dit­ed con­sid­er­a­tion.

Red­ford also ordered a hear­ing “to con­duct oral argu­ment on any pend­ing motions” for Fri­day, Sept. 12.

The Aug. 10 fil­ing comes 278 days after vot­ers elect­ed Kris­ten McDon­ald Riv­et, D‑Bay City, to rep­re­sent the 8^th Con­gres­sion­al Dis­trict, leav­ing her for­mer state Sen­ate seat vacant.

Read the full sto­ry at The Mid­west­ern­er.

Read the court’s deci­sion here.