Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist wants his boss to call a special election for state Senate District 35, where 270,000 Michiganders have gone without representation for 145 days.

Gilchrist told The Detroit News at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual policy conference on Mackinac Island that the district’s residents are “ready” for a special election, and he hopes it’s “happening soon,” but declined to offer any insight into Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s five-month delay.

“It’s the governor’s prerogative to call that election,” he said. “And I think that the people are certainly ready for it. I think that people in the district are ready for it. I’ve spent time in the district. They’re ready for it.”

It’s been 145 days since former state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Bay City, was sworn into Congress following her successful bid to replace retiring Rep. Dan Kildee in November.

Despite numerous calls from constituents, lawmakers, local leaders, businesses, political allies and public rallies demanding Whitmer schedule a special election, the governor has refused to do so, offering no rationale for the delay as McDonald Rivet remains silent.

Gilchrist is second declared candidate for the 2026 gubernatorial race to call for a special election, following repeated demands from Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Twp. since November.

Whitmer told WCMU in April she’s reviewing possible election dates, but has otherwise largely ignored constituents in Bay, Midland, and Saginaw counties pleading for action.

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

“At some point there will be one, but I don’t have an announcement to make yet,” she told the news station while assessing damage from a northern Michigan ice storm. “I haven’t make a determination yet. There are a number of times in the year that we could call for it, and I just haven’t made a decision yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”

Left-wing voting rights activists with Common Cause Michigan, who have supported the governor’s initiatives, last month demanded Whitmer “rise above” the “partisan games” to do the right thing.

“Michiganders don’t like it when their elected officials play partisan games,” CCM Director Quentin Turner said in a statement. “Governor Whitmer needs to rise above such tactics and set a date for the special election ASAP. The people of the 35^th District deserve representation in Lansing.

“If the governor can’t put partisanship aside, the legislature needs to change the law to prevent long delays in holding special elections,” he said, noting further delays could mean months more without representation.

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

“It’s the governor’s duty to set a special election primary and general election dates,” the statement read. “She has done so in previous years without delay, but we have heard no explanation as to the reason for the delay this time. Due to the governor’s delays, the district will not elect a new senator in the … May 6 election, and any further delays could also put the next election, scheduled for August 6, out of the question.”

The reason behind the hold-up is obvious to political observers.

The 35^th Senate District stretches across five state House districts, and only one is represented by a Democrat: Rep. Amos O’Neal, D-Saginaw; Rep. Bill Schuette, R-Midland; Rep. Timmy Beson, R-Bay City; and Rep. Matt Bierlein, R-Vassar.

The district’s Midland, Bay and Saginaw counties went 54.8% for President Donald Trump in November. The senate district has been represented by a Republican every year since 1965, until McDonald-Rivet took office in 2023.

A special election would determine whether the legislature’s upper chamber operates with a new 19-19 tie between Republicans and Democrats, or returns to a 20-18 Democratic majority. Voters shifted control of the House to Republicans in November, killing the first Democratic government trifecta in four decades.

“The outcome of the special election in the 35^th District will be a difference maker for what the remaining two years of Whitmer’s tenure looks like,” former Republican U.S. ambassador Joe Cella wrote in a column for The Detroit News. “Whitmer is hoping the big momentum behind … Donald Trump in Michigan and nationally cools off before calling the special election to give the likely lead Democrat contender maximum advantage.”

It’s a reason that’s not sitting well with local Karen Abate, who described the situation as “taxation without representation” when she confronted officials from Whitmer’s office at a town hall in Saginaw.

“I’m here to ask why the 35^th District does not have a state Senator, why the governor has not called for a special election?” Abate asked the governor’s staff in Saginaw.

An unidentified staffer confirmed the delay is all about politics.

“So, when you, um, when there’s a call for a special election, um, there are legal hurdles you need to jump through, and what you’re speaking to, m’am, is more of an issue with, um, the party, the Michigan Democratic Party, as it relates to the election, and … it’s all about timing,” he said.

“It only took her about 20 days two years ago to call an election in other districts. Why are they more important than we are?” Abate shot back. “You’re snowing us, sir.”

The official’s response was more boilerplate.

“Again, I hear your concern. What you’re speaking to is more of a political conversation. It’s more of a political, capital P, conversation rather than the issue that we’re here for today,” the official said. “I’ve heard you, we’ve heard you, we’ll take that concern back to the governor.”

That was in March.

The vacancy is now the longest Whitmer has delayed scheduling a special election since she was elected governor six years ago, according to a tracker posted online by the Michigan Freedom Fund.

The MFF site compares the time it has taken Whitmer to call special elections that benefit Democrats, versus those that don’t. On average it took just two days for the former, compared to 30 days for the latter.