LANSING — After regaining a trifecta in state government, Michigan Democrats have chosen the leaders of the Michigan state Senate and Michigan state House ahead of the 2027-2028 legislative session. Both leaders join Governor-elect Jocelyn Benson as Wayne County residents taking over a legislative chamber.
In the state senate, Senator Darrin Camilleri will become Senate Majority Leader, replacing Senator Winnie Brinks who will become Lt. Governor. In the state house, Ranjeev Puri will be Speaker of the House, replacing Matt Hall, who barely won re-election in his own right.
Republicans also changed leaders in both chambers. In the Senate, Roger Hauck will lead the minority, replacing Aric Nesbitt who was term limited and failed in his effort to gain the GOP nomination for governor. In the House, Matt Hall was denied a chance to continue to lead his caucus after an electoral shellacking. Instead, Tom Kunse will be the minority leader for Republicans.
Both leaders take over a larger caucus than currently exists. The Democratic Party held a slim 20-18 majority over Republicans in the state senate before the election, but Democrats flipped three seats – winning an open seat and defeating an incumbent in Oakland County and an incumbent in Kent County. The Democrats will hold a 23-15 majority in January – the largest in nearly 50 years.
The House of Representatives saw a massive shift from a 58-52 Republican advantage to a 63-47 Democratic majority – the largest since the 2008 election produced a 67-43 Democratic Party victory. Ten Republican incumbents lost re-election and Democrats flipped one open seat. All Democratic held seats remained Democratic.
For both leaders, the challenge of the next legislative session will be to make meaningful change as many of the supporters of the previous trifecta were disappointed in the leadership of former Speaker of the House, Joe Tate. For his part, Leader-elect Camilleri has signaled a busy legislative session is ahead. Replying to a post on X by Detroit News reporter Chad Livengood that said, “New Michigan state Senate leader wants busiest session in history,” Camilleri simply posted, “Can confirm!”
