The state of Michigan held its regular election Tuesday to decide local millages and bond proposals, municipal office seats and four special state House of Representatives races. Those elected to the House will fill vacancies left by former Michigan House representatives and serve partial terms expiring on Jan. 1, 2023.
In a historic win, Democrat Carol Glanville defeated Republican Robert Regan and write-in candidate Mike Milanowski Jr. in Michigan’s 74th House District, a seat that had been held by Republicans since 1993. According to unofficial results, Glanville received 52% of the votes over Regan’s share of 40% in a district that former president Donald Trump won by 16 percentage points in 2020.
The seat was vacated when state Sen. Mark Huizenga, R-Walker, was elected to Michigan’s 28th Senate District in Kent County last November.
Regan made national headlines in March for making controversial comments about rape and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Regan’s comments drew condemnation from GOP members such as Ron Weiser, a University of Michigan regent and Michigan Republican Party chairman. Despite this, Regan was still favored to win in the 74th District, making Glanville’s win an upset victory.
According to her campaign website, Glanville currently works as a Walker city commissioner and previously worked as a teacher and administrator. Following the results of the election, Glanville expressed her thanks to West Michigan voters in a May 3 tweet.
“West Michigan values of integrity, decency, and care for the common good won tonight,” Glanville wrote. “The people of the 74th District have spoken, and I hear you. We are united in fundamental ways, and I will take our values and concerns to the Capitol to affect positive change.”
Democrat Jeffrey Pepper, a Dearborn-based attorney, won in the 15th District over Republican Ginger Shearer, per unofficial results. Pepper will fill the vacancy left by former state Rep. Abdullah Hammoud, D-Dearborn, who left the position at the beginning of 2022 after being elected mayor of Dearborn.
Republican Terence Mekoski defeated Democrat James Diez in the 36th District. The seat was vacated when state Sen. Doug Wozniak, R-Shelby Charter Township, won the state Senate race for the 8th District in Macomb County in November 2021.
In the 43rd District, Republican Mike Harris beat out Democrat Kent Douglas by nearly 2,000 votes. Harris will replace the late state Rep. Andrea Schroeder, R-Independence Township, who passed away due to stomach cancer in October 2021.
Only one election occurred in Washtenaw County on Tuesday. Residents of Ypsilanti Community Schools voted “yes” on a millage rate proposal to levy a millage rate of no more than 18 mills for the next decade and increase the rate by 0.5 mills each year over the next 11 years. Millage rates are used to calculate local property taxes, which determine how much is levied in taxes for every $1,000 of property value. School districts set millage rates after calculating the amount of funding they need from homeowners to fulfill their final budget for the year.
Tuesday night’s election preceded the statewide Aug. 2 primary election and Nov. 8 general election, both set to occur later this year.
Summer News Editor Irena Li can be reached at irenayli@umich.edu.
Summer Managing Online Editor Matthew Bilik contributed to the data visualization for this article.