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In article <uihlnd$21f65$19@dont-email.me>

Ten months ago, Michigan Democrats took full control of state
government for the first time in 40 years.

Despite slim legislative majorities, they wielded that newfound
power quickly and decisively, enacting gun laws, codifying civil
rights for L.G.B.T.Q. people, solidifying abortion rights and
undoing Republican laws that they said weakened labor unions.

But on Tuesday night, Democrats learned that their 56-to-54
advantage in the Michigan House of Representatives would become a
54-to-54 tie, at least temporarily, because two Democratic
legislators had won elections to become mayors of Detroit suburbs.

When the two vacate their House seats, as they are required to do in
the coming days, Michigan’s leftward march of 2023 is likely to
reach a partisan stalemate.

Michigan was one of four states with a new Democratic trifecta —
single-party control of the governorship and both legislative
chambers — when this year began. Bolstered in last year’s election
by redrawn legislative maps, an abortion ballot question and a
strong showing by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who decisively won a second
term, Michigan Democrats narrowly flipped control of both the State
House and Senate.

Ms. Whitmer, a Democrat who is frequently mentioned as a possible
future presidential candidate, is expected to call special elections
to fill the seats of the soon-to-be mayors, Representatives Kevin
Coleman and Lori M. Stone. Mr. Coleman is leaving the Legislature to
become mayor of Westland, population 84,000, and Ms. Stone will
become mayor of Warren, population 137,000. Both are expected to
remain in the Capitol for the next few days.

Mr. Coleman and Ms. Stone each won legislative races in their
districts last year by more than 25 percentage points, leaving
Democratic leaders confident that the party will ultimately reassert
its trifecta.

But special elections can be unpredictable. And even if Democrats
hold both seats, many expect it will be a few months before new
legislators take their oaths of office in Lansing. By that point,
the state will be in the throes of the 2024 election cycle, in which Republicans hope to win back the House.

In recent months, some Democrats had worried that the two mayoral
races could possibly disrupt their party’s narrow hold on Michigan,
a perennial battleground that Donald J. Trump won in 2016 and Joseph
R. Biden Jr. won in 2020.

Mr. Coleman said he was proud of the Democrats’ record this year in
Lansing, especially on labor issues, and was excited about the
chance to lead his working-class suburb. His new job carries a pay
raise and spares him an 80-minute commute to Lansing. But the win,
he said, was in some ways bittersweet.

Mr. Coleman said some fellow Democrats, including members of Ms.
Whitmer’s staff and Speaker of the House Joe Tate, expressed
concerns to him about the mayoral run. But none of them, he said,
did anything to undermine his campaign for mayor.

“My perception is she trusted my decision to run, and I think she
understood where I was coming from,” Mr. Coleman said of the
governor. “I think she understands, again, our seat’s not going
anywhere, it’s just a matter of maybe it slows the process down a
little bit.”

Ms. Stone did not immediately respond to an interview request.

Ms. Whitmer’s office did not make her available for an interview or immediately respond to Mr. Coleman’s characterization of her views.
A spokeswoman for the governor, Stacey LaRouche, said in a statement
that “this legislative term has been one of the most productive in
state history” and that Ms. Whitmer had accomplished many of her top priorities.

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Democrats said they believe Mr. Tate will remain the speaker and
Democrats will retain committee chairmanships while the House is
evenly divided, and Republican leaders have not indicated that they
will challenge that. But the chamber is unlikely to pass bills
without bipartisan support until the vacant seats are filled.

Representative Matt Hall, the Republican leader in the House,
congratulated the “two fine public servants” on their mayoral wins
in a statement and said “we are entering a new era in Lansing with a
House that is now evenly divided.”


https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/08/us/michigan-state-legislature- democrats.html

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