Democrats to control Michigan Legislature following 2022 Election

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Voters came out in record numbers Tuesday for the 2022 Midterm Elections.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will have a Democratic-controlled Legislature to work with during her second term.

Read: 2022 Michigan election results

On Jan. 1, Democrats take control of the Michigan House of Representatives and Michigan Senate. The last time Democrats controlled the State Senate was in 1984, the same year the Detroit Tigers last won the World Series.

“Many of the issues that have faced our state, even in the last two to four years, they haven’t been reflecting the majority of Michiganders and their values,” said Rep. Sarah Anthony, (D) Lansing.

Anthony will represent Eaton and Ingham counties in the Senate for the next four years. She said with Democrats in control, proposals blocked by Republicans - such as gun and environmental reform - could become law.

“These are democratic values we’ve been talking about year after year and finally democrats will have a gavel to make those policies a reality,” said Anthony.

But Michigan State University political scientist Matt Grossmann said these changes won’t happen overnight.

“When a government switches from one party to the other, they’re able to move it about one percent the direction between the total positions of the democratic party and the positions of the republican party,” said Grossmann.

Now the Democrats have a small majority in the Legislature and Republicans told News 10 they’re hoping they can still work together.

“It’s always good to have bipartisan legislation and passing policies,” said Rep. Sarah Lighnter, (R) Springport.

Lighnter will be in the minority party come January. She said she was ready to get back to work.

“We have to regroup and lick our wounds and try to put forth the best policy that we can for the people we represent,” said Lighnter.

Both parties are working to decide who fill leadership roles when the new legislature begins its work in January.

You can see the full election results across Michigan here.

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