Nov. 6, 2026 | This Week in Government: Benson Sets Initial Transition Team Led by Ananich, Sherard-Freeman and Donofrio as Chairs

The Senate majority leader-elect set the goal Thursday of having the most productive legislative session in his members’ lifetime over the next two years under a new Democratic trifecta.

This, Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, said, is one of his top priorities as he prepares to assume the role of majority leader.

Camilleri was elected to the role in the first session day since Tuesday’s election, an election cycle in which he led the Senate Democrats’ campaign committee that resulted in the pickup of three seats. They will return in January with a 23-15 majority, their largest since the 1979-82 term.

Sen. Roger Hauck, R-Mount Pleasant, was elected minority leader. He told reporters he has informed Camilleri he will work with them as much as he can. Hauck told reporters his caucus will have a lot of work to do to earn the trust of voters over time to dig themselves out of their minority status, but in the meantime they will pick their battles while working to find compromise with Democrats where possible.

Democrats’ top goal will be to address affordability and cost of living concerns that in part drove voters out in huge numbers across the state and country on Tuesday, propelling Democrats to significant wins, including their second trifecta in Michigan in the past three sessions.

“My caucus was sent here with a mandate to lower the cost of living for our residents, to address the many problems that Michigan has not been able to address for the last two years, and get things done for working people,” Camilleri told reporters following his election as majority leader-elect. “Our number one goal will be to make sure that this legislative session is the most productive legislative session in our lifetimes.”

He noted that at the end of the 2023-24 session when proceedings ground to a halt when the House could not provide a quorum, there were over 200 bills left on the table.

The last two years of divided government have been marked by a minimal amount of legislative movement, including a 2023 budget that dragged into the opening days of October and bills reaching the governor’s desk at the lowest level in decades.

“We believe that we’ll get more bills signed into law during this two-year term than at any other time,” Camilleri said.

He said he recognized the opportunity now afforded Democrats with a 23-15 Senate and 63-47 House compared to the 20-18 Senate and 56-54 House they held during the 2023-24 session when it was a huge lift to keep everyone unified to pass their agenda.

“Whether you are a more moderate Democrat or a more progressive Democrat, we have an ability here to actually find pathways forward on all kinds of big policy ideas,” Camilleri said. “Our goal is to make sure that we can again do big, bold things in this new trifecta.”

Camilleri said the trifecta in 2023-24 was the first for Democrats in about 40 years and it had its share of growing pains from lack of experience.

“We’re going to learn from any of those missteps last time around, and because we have a new set of leadership across every position, we’ll have a chance to move forward,” Camilleri said.

As to policies that could be on the table for lowering costs, Camilleri said they include legislative proposals introduced in the current and recent sessions to address energy prices, utility companies, housing affordability and prescription drug prices.

“There are a lot of things that I think we can tackle,” Camilleri said. “I’m not here today to pronounce the full list, but it is the work that we will start as the Democratic caucus in the majority, working with our partners in the House and the governor-elect.”

He added that the prescription drug affordability board package introduced in recent sessions could be “a centerpiece of our conversation” on affordability, but further conversations need to be had.

Sen. Kevin Hertel, D-Saint Clair Shores, was chosen as the majority floor leader.

He told reporters his focus will be on ensuring everyone in their diverse caucus is able to have a voice in policy conversations.

“I really want to focus on making sure while we are the most productive caucus in this Legislature that we’ve seen in a long time that every member feels like their voice is heard at the table and we are working on policies that will actually improve the lives of Michiganders,” Hertel said.

Hauck told reporters his election as minority leader was a unanimous decision, and that rumors of a possible challenge to his election were put to rest by him after Election Day.

“Everybody is part of the team, and our goal in moving forward is to get the majority back,” Hauck said. “Obviously, we start out in a bad situation, we only have 15 members. I promised the majority leader and Senator Hertel that I would work with them … as much as I can. Obviously, we’re not going to agree on everything.”

Hauck noted that he came into the Legislature at the same time as Camilleri and Hertel, and he believes they can work well together and respectfully disagree.

“My philosophy is I like everybody until they do something personal to me, right? Politics is politics,” Hauck said. “Are we going to get along together all the time? Probably not. … I want to be able to disagree without being mean about it.”

Hauck said following the rough night for the GOP at the polls, it’s now time to move on and work as a caucus to do what it can for the people of Michigan.

“It’s like when I was on the township board: you can’t get up and complain about everything, because nobody just listens to you,” Hauck said of his time in local government and the Legislature. “You’ve got to pick your battles and then try to compromise.”

When asked where they might be able to work with Democrats, he said there may be some areas of agreement on some elements of education policy such as on improving reading skills for students. Some collaboration might be possible on addressing affordable housing and healthcare and insurance cost transparency, he added.

Senate Republicans also named the rest of their leadership team Thursday.

Sen. Thomas Albert of Lowell will be the Republican floor leader, while Sen. Michele Hoitenga of Manton will be assistant Republican leader. Sen. Jonathan Lindsey of Coldwater will be the assistant caucus chair.

The remaining GOP Senate leadership comes from newly elected members.

Sen.-elect John Wetzel of Grand Haven will serve as the Republican whip; Sen.-elect Gina Johnsen of Portland will be caucus chair; Sen.-elect Mike Murphy of Howell will be assistant Republican floor leader and Sen.-elect Doni Steele of Orion will be assistant Republican whip.

Camilleri said Thursday that the rest of the Senate Democratic leadership team will be announced soon.

Current Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, also lieutenant governor-elect, told reporters in her new role presiding over the Senate will work out well for the new administration in terms of ensuring cooperation and coordination with the Legislature.

There will also be more experience among Democrats when it begins the new trifecta after divided government during the current session. She said that experience and lessons learned from the 2023-24 session will help in more effectively running both chambers next year.

“To have a comfortable margin will be a beautiful experience for us to be able to move an agenda forward,” Brinks said.

Rep. Ranjeev Puri will be the next speaker of the House this coming January after a blowout win for House Democrats in this week’s election, taking the majority he vowed his party would secure throughout the 2026 election cycle.

In his first discussion with members of the press as House speaker-elect, the first South Asian to hold the role in the country, Puri, D-Canton, outlined some of the priorities of the next Legislature, including household incomes and population growth. He also said he wants to uplift all perspectives across his caucus to reverse some of the outcomes of the last Democratic trifecta.

The Democratic Caucus voted to keep Puri as its leader after the Democrats flipped a stunning 11 seats in the House, bringing new faces to the caucus and a trifecta to state government, an opportunity that the members don’t want to waste with a 63-47 majority.

The caucus also voted to keep Rep. John Fitzgerald, D-Wyoming, as the’ floor leader, this time, for the majority.

Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia, won the three-way race for speaker pro tempore against Rep. Carrie Rheingans, D-Ann Arbor, and Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou, D-East Lansing. Pohutsky was the speaker pro tempore in the 2023-24 term.

The majority caucus chair will be Rep. Stephanie Young, D-Detroit, and majority whip will be Rep. Jennifer Conlin, D-Ann Arbor, both roles they performed in the minority.

Puri said being minority leader was “probably the two most grueling years of (his) life,” and being in the minority in general is not fun, “especially in a very divided political environment.”

But, he was proud of what his party accomplished in flipping so many districts blue, saying he believes the majority now “accurately reflects what Michiganders are looking for, which is stable leadership and prioritizing the needs of Michigan.”

On working with Rep. Tom Kunse, the newly-elected minority leader, news Puri heard for the first time in the press scrum, he said he was willing and able to work with anyone, and if they have “willing partners on the other side that are willing to put the politics aside, then they’re going to find a home in our big tent.”

However, he said the reality of the past two years is the House has “been led with political divisiveness.”

House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, who lost a bid to maintain leadership of the Republican Caucus, regularly clashed with Puri, starting with committee assignments. Hall routinely mocked Puri as meaningless to the process.

“Every aspect of it seemed to be on how we could own the other side or win a political fight, and in my opinion, that’s not how this institution is designed to run,” Puri said. “And so, the House Democrats are focused on team Michigan and making sure that we’re making the lives of everyday Michiganders easier and better.”

Puri said he was hopeful that Republican leadership change shows an understanding that their former approach wasn’t working.

Having a larger majority allows their caucus “to dream bigger,” Puri said. He said they need to think about how they tackle income and population growth, and with a sizable majority, they can explore issues that don’t include “who’s playing in what sport, or who’s going to use which restroom.”

Some of the lessons he learned from the last Democratic trifecta were to flip more seats, Puri joked, but also to adhere to the array of perspectives in the caucus.

“I look forward as speaker-elect to making sure all those perspectives are uplifted, that everyone has a role in collaborating on what an agenda looks like,” Puri said.

Gov.-elect Jocelyn Benson and Lt. Gov.-elect Winnie Brinks visited the Democrats in caucus, Puri said, to share the sentiment that their first priorities need to be “bold and transformative” and they’re not here to do technical fixes, but instead meaningful work on subjects like affordability including reining in utility costs.

He said he was also interested in exploring Freedom of Information Act expansions with the governor, but was not going to come out with “any bold promises on any individual policy ideas.”

“It’s one of the charges I’ve had as the speaker-elect of promising my caucus that we are going to put a lot of work into a robust agenda that is going to tackle significant issues, and so I look forward to having that collaboration with my new members and figuring out kind of what the policy of the new caucus looks like,” Puri said.

The Democratic side of the House floor on Thursday’s leadership elections day was visibly electric, with a parade of new members walking into the chamber for the first time met by cheers and applause on their way into the caucus room to vote in their new leadership.

Backers of a ballot proposal to toughen campaign finance rules were elated this week as the measure passed overwhelmingly despite industry opposition.

But the fight is nowhere near over.

The issue quickly landed in court after two federal lawsuits were filed to challenge Proposal 2. The measure aimed at curbing utilities’ political influence and imposing new rules for political communications passed Tuesday with 81.3% of the vote(opens nytimes.com in a new tab).

Consumers Energy and DTE Energy signed onto a lawsuit filed(opens gongwer.com in a new tab) Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan alleging the proposal violates the First Amendment. That came on the heels of a Tuesday lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Mackinac Center for Public Policy in the same court that also challenges the proposal on free speech grounds.

The coalition behind the ballot measure says it was ready for the legal fight and expects the measure to hold up in court. Defense of the proposal will be up to the state, whose officials are the named defendants in the lawsuit.

“The corporations bankrolling our opposition have been gearing up” for legal action “since Proposal 2 first qualified for the ballot, if not before,” Maura Cowley, campaign manager for the Michiganders for Money Out of Politics campaign, said Thursday in a statement. Organizers are “confident Proposal 2 will withstand legal scrutiny, and we were fully expecting and are prepared to take on this challenge,” Cowley said.

The lawsuit filed Thursday by utilities argues that the ballot proposal is unconstitutional because it discriminates against certain viewpoints. The proposal bans public utilities, some government contractors and “people and organizations with substantial connections” to those utilities and contractors from making direct or indirect campaign contributions.

“The First Amendment forbids the government from silencing disfavored speakers or viewpoints in this fashion,” the utilities’ lawyers wrote.

Michiganders “should not lose their First Amendment rights because of where they work,” Consumers Energy spokesperson Katie Carey said Thursday in an email.

“This proposal unfairly targets a Michigan business, its Michigan employees and their family members from exercising their constitutionally protected rights to participate in the political process,” Carey said, “while allowing out of state special interest groups and billionaires to continue flooding Michigan with political spending.”

That lawsuit also alleges the ballot proposal is too vague and violates the 14th Amendment’s due process. The language “does not define or limit what it means for an entity to be ‘affiliated with’ a utility,” the lawsuit says. Other terms in the proposal are also “unconstitutionally vague,” the lawyers wrote.

The legal challenge from utilities follows the Mackinac Center’s lawsuit filed Tuesday night as votes were still being tallied.

Prop 2 is “an alarming and far-reaching law” that violates the First Amendment and “targets everyone who spends money speaking about public policy if they talk about an elected official at the wrong time or with the wrong words,” the Mackinac Center argued in its lawsuit.

In addition to limiting political contributions, the proposal would also impose new rules on political communications, including donor disclosure requirements.

“There’s too much speech that’s potentially regulated,” Patrick Wright, vice president of legal affairs at the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, said Thursday in an interview. “The consequences are it puts people on a watch list and can lead to harassment and it’s likely to chill people from engaging in discussions about policy, politics and elections.”

The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics campaign declined to make a representative available for an interview about the legal challenges Thursday.

“On Tuesday, Michiganders spoke loud and clear, voting to pass Proposal 2 with an overwhelming majority and delivering a resounding mandate to end pay-to-play politics and put power back where it belongs – with the people,” Cowley said in the emailed statement.

Democrats are set to enjoy their strongest grip ever on state government starting in January following Tuesday’s election sweep, leaving in question what, if anything, might happen in the final weeks of the 103rd Legislature.

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, the lieutenant governor-elect, didn’t rule out the idea of working with the soon-to-end House Republican majority to move legislation before the year ends. But she also declined to offer any specifics on what bills might be ripe to move before Democrats assume full control in January.

“There’s certainly room for conversation there. I am certainly open to it. There are things that we could get done this term, so we’ll see what’s possible,” she said. “I think we could have a productive end of this session if everybody is interested in doing that.”

There was no word from House Republicans, who lost an astonishing 11 seats in Tuesday’s elections, on what, if anything, they would be open to working on before year’s end.

There would seem little incentive for legislative Democrats to work with House Republicans on anything requiring significant compromise, though it’s always possible moving non-controversial legislation sponsored by lawmakers leaving the Legislature could be a priority.

The other possibility would be if outgoing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has any final asks of lawmakers before she leaves office. A message left with her communications office was not immediately returned.

When asked about specific bills that could move, Brinks noted the new political dynamic.

“The world changed a lot yesterday, so that may have an impact on what is possible,” she said.

A tentative Senate agenda for Thursday included five bills, four on credit unions (SB 1026, SB 1027, SB 1029 and SB 1030) and a fifth regarding land sales (HB 6243).