Local legislative races will take the temperature of Democratic voters across Metro Detroit this August.
The values of the Democratic Party are being shaped in Detroit, where campaigns of some local candidates are mirroring those of national political figures.
Michigan Democrats are attempting to take back the state House in November as Democrats nationally will try to ride polling showing President Donald Trump’s unpopularity to their own victories.
While Republicans nationally are spending millions to turn Michigan’s opening Senate seat red for the first time since 1992, politicos believe the makings of the winner of the state’s Democratic primary could be the model for a 2028 presidential campaign that excites Democratic voters.
Should the candidate the party supports be a moderate, a leftist or somewhere in between? Michigan’s Senate primary has all stripes represented, and some say who Michigan voters choose may represent how Democratic voters feel nationally.
Democrats in Congress need to add four seats to flip the Senate. Losing Michigan would make that task unlikely.
If Michigan Democrats can add five seats, they would take back the state House majority in the state Legislature.
The state’s current split government came after Democrats lot their legislative trifecta after 2024. In the 2022 election, new district lines, drawn in Michigan by an independent commission, gave Democrats their first governing trifecta in 40 years.
If last month’s state convention was an accurate indicator, there’s momentum among Democratic voters who are angry with the party’s status quo.
Many party members who voted for Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and Eli Savit are embracing progressive values championed by national figures such as NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez or Sen. Bernie Sanders.
But others in the party say in Michigan, a state that’s voted for President Donald Trump twice in 2016 and 2024, its too risky to run far left candidates in general elections against formidable Republicans.
Whether or not Arab candidates sympathetic to Palestinians supported former Vice President Kamala Harris will also come into play for many Black voters in Detroit still disappointed over her November 2024 defeat.
The following primary elections are considered safe Democratic seats, meaning the winner of the primary election will likely win the Nov. 3 general election.
The primary election takes place on Aug. 4.
State Senate District 1
Former state Rep. Abe Aiyash faces newcomer Justin Onwenu, an appointee of former Mayor Mike Duggan and current Mayor Mary Sheffield. Working Families Party-backed Aiyash and Onwenu, who is endorsed by a range of local lawmakers from Wayne County Executive Warren Evans to former U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, have both taken aim at DTE Energy, promising to stand up to the energy lobby to lower rates.
The area includes Detroit and the Downriver communities of Ecorse, Lincoln Park, River Rouge and Wayandotte.
State Senate District 2
Abbas Alawieh, a former Congressional staffer and leader of the Uncommitted movement, faces state Rep. Erin Byrnes, D-Dearborn.
The seat, currently represented by Sylvia Santana, was moved from primarily Detroit to Dearborn after the state’s independent redistricting process.
State Senate District 3:
Former state Sen. Adam Hollier faces Eboni Taylor, who was recently endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders. Hollier firstly ran for Congress, then dropped to run for Secretary of State, then dropped that race to run for the eastside state Senate seat. State Sen. Stephanie Chang, who is term-limited, endorsed Taylor. The district covers parts of the eastside of Detroit and Highland Park, plus the entirety of Hamtramck.
There are 10 candidates running for the seat; Korey Hall, John Conyers III, LaTonya Garrett and Toinu Reeves, Kimberly Knott among others.
Senate District 10
Amanda Treppa is campaigning as a new face against state Rep. Natalie Price. Treppa is the newcomer, and is backed by the Working Families Party and by Rev. Horace Sheffield. Price is endorsed by many of her legislative colleagues, plus the League of Conservation Voters. Mark Anthony Murphy Jr. is also running.
The area contains one of 710 state legislative districts in the country where people voted for President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and President Donald Trump in 2016.
House District 8
Incumbent state Rep. Helena Scott is being challenged by Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidate Chris Gilmer Hill. Deanna Austin is also running in the district which covers part of Detroit and Ferndale.
House District 11
Kimberly Fisher, backed by the Michigan Working Families Party faces Macomb County commissioner Michael Howard.
The winner of the Aug. 4 primary is expected to replace state Rep. Donavan McKinney, who isn’t running for reelection to the House seat, instead running to defeat U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. McKinney has endorsed Fisher.
