Greene sworn in, restoring representation to long-vacant 35th state Senate District

After more than a year, the Michigan State Senate is back at full strength, as state Sen.-elect Chedrick Greene was sworn into the chamber Thursday morning. 

Greene, a Saginaw fire captain and former U.S. Marine, was elected to represent Michigan’s 35th Senate District, a seat which sat vacant since its previous occupant, Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City), was sworn into her new role as a U.S. representative. 

Greene, a Democrat, defeated Republican Jason Tunney, and Libertarian Ali Sledz in a special election on May 5, receiving nearly 60% of the vote in the highly competitive district, which includes parts of Saginaw, Bay and Midland counties.

While Democrats held a narrow 20-18 majority in the chamber, McDonald Rivet’s departure shrank the caucus’s already thin margins down to a one-vote advantage over Republicans. 

After taking his oath of office, Greene met with reporters, saying it was surreal to be sworn into a chamber where he’d previously stood as a guest of McDonald Rivet’s. 

In the coming months Greene said he was looking to help negotiate the difference between the budgets passed by the Democratic-led Senate and the Republican-led House, and that his priorities were centered on affordability and safety, alongside freedom and democracy. 

Coming into the Legislature during a time of split control between the chambers, Greene said the time he spent talking to voters of all political stripes gives him a leg up in crossing the aisle to work for the better of the people of Michigan.

While Greene is now a fully-fledged member of the state Senate, his time on the campaign trail is not finished, as the newly sworn-in senator seeks reelection for a full term. While Greene is unopposed in the Democratic primary, Tunney is due for a rematch with financial firm owner and former truck driver Chadwick Twillman, who sought the Republican nomination in the special election earlier this year. 

“As we get back into campaign season – which seems weird, because I just finished campaign season – but we’re going to continue to focus on what we’ve done, and that’s being out talking to our district, getting their input right?” Greene said. “You know, God gave us two ears, so we listen more than we talk.”