Lansing Update: How the Election Went, and a Look at Lame Duck
Posted November 8, 2024
GOP Takes Presidency, U.S. Senate & State House in Michigan; More Election Results
Another election season has concluded and most of the unofficial results are in. At the very top of the ticket, former President Donald Trump was elected president, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris.
While some states are still counting votes, President-elect Trump secured at least 295 electoral college votes to at least 226 votes for Harris, reaching the 270 vote-minimum to secure the presidency. Trump won Michigan’s electoral votes and several other key toss-up states, including Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Trump also won the national popular vote, garnering more than 73 million votes to Harris’ 69 million. He will be the first president to serve two non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland, who served from 1885 to 1889 and 1893 to 1897.
As for Congress, Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate. In Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, Democrat Elissa Slotkin was elected to replace retiring Democrat U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
Slotkin, who currently represents the 7th Congressional District, defeated Republican Mike Rogers, a former Michigan Congressman, in a very close race. Both Michigan congressional senators remain Democrats—Slotkin and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters.
At the time of this newsletter, control of the U.S. House is still up for grabs.
In Michigan’s open Congress seats, Republican Tom Barrett defeated Democrat Curtis Hertel Jr. for the 7th Congressional District, while Democrat Kristin McDonald Rivet defeated Republican Paul Junge for the 8th Congressional District seat. Both seats were open—U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee is retiring from the 8th District, and Slotkin opted to run for the U.S. Senate.
McDonald Rivet is a current state senator, meaning she will have to resign her seat in the Legislature, which will trigger a future special election to replace her.
The rest of Michigan’s incumbent congressional representatives won their respective re-elections, and the state delegation is now at a 7-6 GOP advantage.
While the federal races capture much attention, the results of Michigan’s state legislative elections are of primary concern to MCC and its public policy advocacy.
At the state level, Democrats lost their majority in the state House after the entire chamber went up for re-election. Their 56-54 seat majority flipped to a 58-52 advantage for Republicans.
The new House Republican majority this week nominated Rep. Matt Hall to be the speaker for the new session that starts in 2025. Rep. Hall had served as the House Minority Leader for the GOP for the past two years.
The outgoing speaker, Rep. Joe Tate, declined to run as the House Minority Leader for the Democrats. The caucus instead approved Rep. Ranjeev Puri as its new leader for the next session.
The Senate will remain at a 20-18 Democratic advantage for now. The Senate could change its partisan makeup ahead of the 2026 elections due to the yet-to-be-determined special election to replace Sen. McDonald Rivet.
In other news, the state Supreme Court will grow to a 5-2 majority of Democrat-nominated justices, as the two Democrat-nominated justices won their races. The court is currently at a 4-3 split in favor of Democrat-nominated justices.
Democrats still control two branches of government—the Governor’s office and Supreme Court—while the Legislature will be split between a GOP-controlled House and Democrat-led Senate.
All results are unofficial and have yet to be officially canvassed and certified by state election officials.
In response to the election results, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) this week issued a statement calling for unity and continued prayers for the nation and its new leaders.
“The Catholic Church is not aligned with any political party, and neither is the bishops’ conference,” said Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB, in a statement. “No matter who occupies the White House or holds the majority on Capitol Hill, the Church’s teachings remain unchanged, and we bishops look forward to working with the people’s elected representatives to advance the common good of all.”
Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron also released a statement, calling on the faithful to “give thanks to God for our right to help choose those who will serve as his stewards in civil office, and let us pray for the men and women elected to serve our country.”
The Archbishop and Chair of the MCC Board of Directors noted that “this is also a time to acknowledge that we are, first and foremost, members of the Body of Christ, citizens of heaven, united in our call to witness Christ’s love and peace to the world. This is our eternal identity, unaffected by changes in worldly leadership.”
A Look at MCC Policy Priorities Ahead of Lame Duck Session
When the state House and Senate return from a two-week break for hunting and Thanksgiving, the lame duck legislative session will begin in earnest.
The current Legislature will have until December 19 to finish work on outstanding legislation before session concludes at the end of the year. After that, a new legislative session will begin, which will now include a change in power in the House from Democratic to Republican control.
With Democrats set to lose complete control over the Legislature, and in addition to the usual push by lawmakers to finish outstanding legislation before all bills die at the end of session, the upcoming lame duck session is expected to be particularly busy.
Lawmakers are scheduled for session after Thanksgiving on Dec. 3-5, 10-12, and 18-19. Session is also scheduled next week, November 12-14, before the two-week break.
Another supplemental spending bill to add funding to the current budget year will likely be up for consideration. For MCC, there remains many unfinished priorities from the session that have lingered due to the election season.
While any number of issues either previously reported on or completely new may pop up, here are just a few items of interest that MCC will be working to get done before the year ends.
Adequate Safety and Mental Health Funding for Nonpublic Schools
As Lansing Update readers know, it’s been a year-long effort to secure adequate school safety and mental health funding for Michigan nonpublic schools.
The current year budget signed into law slashed safety funding 92% across the board for public and nonpublic schools. Initial proposals had cut out nonpublic schools completely, but advocacy from MCC, the Michigan Association of Nonpublic Schools, and grassroots advocates like you helped preserve some funding.
However, lawmakers approved a supplemental spending bill in September with more safety funding for public schools only, leaving nonpublic schools at $1.5 million to divide up among the 100,000 students attending nonpublic schools.
Lawmakers are working toward passing another mid-year supplemental bill before the end of session, and MCC will be advocating for lawmakers to make increased school safety funding for nonpublic schools a major funding priority.
Access to Driver’s Licenses for Undocumented Michiganders
Allowing undocumented immigrants and refugees living in Michigan to safely and legally drive has been on hold since the bills were introduced in early 2023, but MCC plans to join advocacy groups and Catholic grassroots advocates to get this policy passed before year’s end.
MCC has worked on this issue since undocumented immigrants and refugees lost the ability to acquire driver’s licenses in 2008. In supporting this policy, MCC is not encouraging illegal immigration or open borders, nor is this policy about giving the undocumented the right to vote.
The reality is that for people seeking legal recognition, the immigration process to receive legal documents is long, cumbersome, and complex. People who are undocumented for whatever reason—whether in the process of getting work visas and becoming a citizen, or legal immigrants who haven’t received their verification documents because of bureaucratic delays—still need driver’s licenses to function in daily life.
The Church teaches that every person, regardless of the circumstances of how they arrived here or their legal status, deserve to be treated with their God-given dignity, and in Michigan, allowing access to driver’s licenses so families can get to work, school, the doctor’s office, and more is crucial toward that end.
Legislation to allow undocumented immigrants and refugees to apply for specially designated driver’s licenses has been introduced in both chambers and is awaiting a hearing.
Help for Impoverished Juvenile Defendants
MCC will be encouraging lawmakers to finish work on reforming the state’s juvenile justice system by passing a bill that would set statewide standards for providing public defense for juvenile offenders.
House Bill 4630 passed the House on a unanimous vote earlier this session but has yet to be voted on in the Senate. MCC previously signed onto a letter from the State Bar of Michigan, the ACLU of Michigan, and other organizations in calling for the Senate to finish the work on juvenile justice reform and to pass House Bill 4630.
The bill was part of a broader juvenile justice legislative initiative, which included several bills that MCC supported.
The reform package originated from a state task force that issued recommendations to address the disparities and injustices faced by juvenile offenders and their families in their interactions with the juvenile justice system.
The task force found that “Michigan has no centralized structure and minimal standards, supports, or resources for juvenile public defense statewide.” House Bill 4630 is an effort to address this issue and improve services for impoverished juvenile defendants.