A couple of southeast Michigan cities have elected new mayors for the first time in 16 years.
Democratic State Representative Lori Stone will be Warren’s first female mayor after garnering 52% of the vote in unofficial tallies available early Wednesday morning.
Fellow Democratic State Rep. Kevin Coleman picked up 59% of the vote to win the mayor’s job in Westland.
When Stone and Coleman are sworn in, Democrats’ two-seat advantage in the state House will evaporate. The party's control of the House will slip into a 54-54 split with Republicans.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer is expected to schedule special elections to fill the seats
In west Michigan, voters ousted five members of the Green Charter Township board. The recall effort was sparked by the board members' support for an electric vehicle battery plant backed by a subsidiary of a Chinese company.
Opponents to the plant said they worried the company, Gotion, could have ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
And out of state, voters in Ohio passed two ballot measures that are poised to affect Michigan.
One expands abortion rights with language similar to a Michigan constitutional amendment that passed last year. Providers of abortion care in Michigan say they've seen a surge in out-of-state patients since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal abortion-rights protections in Roe v. Wade. The passage of Ohio's amendment Tuesday could relieve some of that influx.
The other Ohio ballot measure legalized adult recreational use of marijuana, which could eat into the margins of cannabis retailers near the Michigan-Ohio border, said attorney Douglas Mains, who focuses on marijuana policy. But overall, impact on the Michigan market will likely be negligible, he said.
