Outlying parts of Lenawee County get new representation in Michigan Legislature

Residents on the eastern edge of Lenawee County and in the city of Hudson will have new state representatives, and the northeastern corner of the county will be represented in the state Senate by a Democrat for the first time since 1999.

State Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, won reelection to represent the new 15th Senate District over Republican Scott Price of Ypsilanti. Irwin received 89,398 votes to Price's 31,172, according to a USA TODAY count of votes as of Wednesday afternoon.

The 15th District covers Clinton, Macon and Tecumseh townships, the city of Tecumseh, and parts of Washtenaw and Monroe counties. It was created by the state's redistricting commission following the 2020 census.

It appears that Irwin will be part of the majority in the state Senate, as Democrats announced they had won control of both the House and Senate and Republicans had conceded defeat. The Associated Press had not called some of those races as of Wednesday afternoon.

"We have a real opportunity in the Michigan Legislature to focus again on issues that matter to our future," Irwin said in a video posted on social media. "Making sure we have an economy that works for working people, making sure that we have great schools in every ZIP code, protecting clean water and the Great Lakes, and so I'm excited to get to work on these issues, and I know that my Democratic colleagues and I are ready to roll up our sleeves and work with anyone who's ready to have a serious conversation about Michigan's future."

He also said he was excited that "voters rejected the Trump takeover of the Michigan Republican Party and they rejected the negativity and the distortions and embraced candidates who were more serious, more experienced and more focused on the issues that really matter to Michigan residents in their lives."

The last Democrat to represent any part of Lenawee County in the state Senate was Jim Berryman of Adrian from 1994-99.

Macon Township will be represented in the House by a Democrat for the first time since Dudley Spade represented most of Lenawee County from 2005-10. Democrat Reggie Miller of Belleville defeated Republican Dale Biniecki of Monroe 20,941 votes to 19,371 in the race to be the representative for the 31st District, which includes Macon Township and parts of Monroe, Washtenaw and Wayne counties.

Miller said she felt “overwhelmed, excited and exhausted” upon learning that she won.

“I’m overwhelmed with joy from all of my supporters, my community and community-elected leaders who supported me and lifted me up,” she said. “I am very grateful. I’m also excited to get to Lansing and get to work.”

Miller said she is willing to work across party lines and will continue to preserve, support and protect the communities. She said her first goal once in office will be building strong working relationships with her fellow elected officials, as well as the taxpayers who got her into office.

“I think that is so important for a good start,” she said.

In the 30th District, which includes Ridgeway and Deerfield townships and stretches across the southern half of Monroe County and includes the city of Monroe, Republican William Bruck won 23,981-13,462 over Suzanne Jennens. The Erie resident said he is “humbled, and ready to go to work and serve the people.”

“I never thought I’d be doing this in my life, yet here we are,” Bruck said. “My mom is very proud, she called me. It’s very humbling, honestly, very humbling and I just look forward to serving my district…

“…Thank you to our communities,” Bruck added. “I am very humbled and thankful for what they’ve done in trusting me like this. It’s a big deal, it’s a very humbling deal that that many people actually voted for me.”

The city of Hudson is now in the 35th House District, covers most of Hillsdale County. The city will now be represented by Rep. Andrew Fink, R-Hillsdale. He won reelection to the house over Democrat Andrew Watkins of Osseo, 25,209-9,405, according to a USA TODAY tally of the votes with 99% of the estimated votes counted.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: New state senator, representatives for outlying Lenawee County