Detroit state legislative races saw surprises during Tuesday’s primary election.
Detroit is losing several senior members of its legislative delegation and candidates who have never been elected will replace them, including former House Speaker Joe Tate, state Rep. Helena Scott and state Sen. Stephanie Chang.
In the 9th state House District, Willie Burton won the most votes, 3,495 (22.83%). Rick Silva came in second, with 3,449 votes (22.52%). Arthur Harrington came in third, winning 2,711 votes (17.71%).
Burton, a former Detroit board of police commissioner, is expected to win the general election in a safe Democratic district, and will replace Tate, who chose against seeking reelection.
In the 3rd state Senate District, John Conyers III earned the most votes of an 11 candidate field on Tuesday, winning 9,416 votes (24.27%) in Wayne County. Former state Sen. Adam Hollier received 7,483 votes (19.28%). Bernie Sanders-backed Eboni Taylor won 7,240 votes (18.66%).
Chang is leaving the seat as she is term-limited.
“Credit goes to my team and the incredible volunteers,” Conyers said in a statement to Michigan Chronicle. “Chief among them, my campaign manager and field strategist, Chantel Watkins-Sheffield. I look forward to getting to work in Lansing for District 3 and bringing measurable and meaningful change to the district and the state of Michigan.”
In the 8th state House District, which covers Detroit, Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge, Chris Gilmer-Hill defeated incumbent state Rep. Helena Scott. 26-year-old Gilmer-Hill won by six percentage points. Gilmer-Hill was backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, whose members also supported state Rep. Donavan McKinney and Abdul El-Sayed’s campaigns for Congress.
Scott, former chair of the House Energy Committee, was the only incumbent Democrat to lose her race Tuesday. In 2025, she came in third in her City Council race, losing to Roy McCalister and City Council member Angela Whitfield Calloway.
The race between Scott and Gilmer-Hill reflected the same dynamics that played out in Michigan’s U.S. Senate Democratic primary. Gilmer-Hill rejected accepting corporate PAC money, while Scott has accepted corporate donors.
Another first time candidate, Justin Onwenu, defeated former state House majority floor leader Abraham Aiyash in the 1st state Senate District. Onwenu won by more than 5,000 votes in the Detroit, Downriver seat.
“What I am hearing is reflected in all of the things Jocelyn Benson and Abdul El-Sayed are talking about: cost of living, the attachment of our democracy, creating jobs and opportunity here at home in Michigan and Detroit down there,” Onwenu told Michigan Chronicle Wednesday.
Though Onwenu touted his own progressive credentials during his campaign, he received scrutiny from Aiyash and his supporters for accepting money from pro-Israel donors and for receiving support from Detroit Next, a corporate PAC backed by the Moroun family.
Small business owner Kimberly Fisher defeated Macomb County Commissioner Michael Howard in Northeast Detroit’s 11th state House District, taking 68% of the vote in Wayne County. She will replace McKinney, who endorsed her, in the state Legislature.
