State Rep. Joe Tate, D-Detroit, the former Michigan House Speaker, said Tuesday in an interview with Michigan Chronicle he isn’t running to be reelected to the state House’s 9th District.
Tate, 45, said he isn’t sure what’s next, but is proud of his tenure as House Speaker that marked the first time a Black person served as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Tate, who lives in Detroit’s Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood, led the Democratic caucus during its once in a generation legislative trifecta from 2022-24.
In its first year, Democrats scored major wins under Tate’s leadership.
Democrats expanded the state’s earned income tax credit, repealed Michigan’s right to work law and pension tax, enacted safe gun storage and red flag laws, repealed the state’s still-on-the-books abortion ban and ended the practice of holding back third graders who failed a reading proficiency test.
However, the final days of Democratic control in the state Legislature in 2024 ended in chaos as several pieces of legislation advocates thought would be passed were killed. State Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit joining Republicans in protesting session was the final nail in the coffin to some of the Democratic legislation that never passed in the House.
Their slim majority meant Democrats needed every member to vote in favor of legislation being voted on.
Activists from Detroit were upset a water affordability plan and bills to allow noncitizen migrants weren’t brought to the floor for votes. Other bills that were left behind include police accountability measures, voting rights and government transparency measures.
Tate said he tried to work pragmatically given the nature of the slim 56-54 Democratic majority. He called current Republican House Speaker Matt Hall’s ability to hold his caucus together impressive.
Tate said says he is still considering an endorsement for one of the candidates seeking to replace him. Tate supported Willie Burton when he ran for City Council in District 5.
Candidates that have filed to run for the district include Arthur Harrington, Willie Burton and Darryl Ervin. At a community meeting Monday, former redistricting commissioner Anthony Eid also indicated he was considering launching a campaign for Michigan’s 9th state House district.
It’s unclear what’s next for Tate, who backed out of a campaign for U.S. Senate shortly after announcing it last year, plus considered running for Detroit mayor before dropping his bid prior to a formal announcement.
“I think Joe has a ton of options,” says Lansing-based strategist Adrian Hemond. “The fact of the matter is these are miserable jobs as a legislator. Between him, Sam Singh, Kara Hope — we’re seeing more resignations. You have to run every two years and the pay sucks compared to what competent people can learn. Joe has a lot of earning potential, a lot more than $71,000 as a state lawmaker. The best legislators right now are typically on the older side because it’s a tough sell to those in their prime earning years.”
Hemond thinks few outside of Lansing will likely remember the lame duck debacle more than people will think of the historic nature of his tenure as the first Black House speaker.
“That’s what will be the first thing on his Wikipedia,” Hemond said.
