Herzberg, Xiong advance to April election for vacant Michigan House seats

Westland City Councilman Peter Herzberg and Macomb County Commissioner Mai Xiong will advance in a race to fill two vacant seats in the Michigan House, where the Democrats are expected to prevail in the April general elections in the Democratic-leaning House districts.

Herzberg won a special primary election Tuesday night for the 25th House District, beating out four other Democratic candidates that included one endorsed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to unofficial Wayne County results.

Xiong, who had Whitmer's endorsement in the 13th House District, won her primary with nearly 79% of the vote Tuesday.

The two Democrats will compete in an April 16 general election with Republican opponents Josh Powell in the 25th House District and Ronald Singer in the 13th House District to fill seats left vacant by former state Reps. Kevin Coleman and Lori Stone when they were elected mayors in November for Westland and Warren.

The primary results came after a slow day of in-person voting punctuated by morning snowfall and slushy road conditions. The vote was largely made up of absentee ballots in the districts, with 87% of the ballots cast in the 25th House District Democratic primary coming from absentee voters, according to unofficial results.

Xiong — who, if elected in April, will be the first Hmong American to serve in the Michigan Legislature — thanked voters and volunteers on social media Wednesday for their support at the polls.

"I think seeing that huge margin just reaffirmed the hard work we put in over the past two months," Xiong told The Detroit News on Wednesday. "Our campaign is not done here but we’ve gotten over I think one of the biggest hurdles.”

Herzberg, who is Coleman's cousin, thanked voters on social media for putting their trust in him. He said he'll be continuing to campaign over the next couple months to ensure the seat remains Democratic.

"I worked hard for it, but I still wasn’t sure how the results would turn out," Herzberg said. "It was a tough race going against the governor’s pick as well as a candidate endorsed by (Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib).”

Powell, the Republican nominee in the 25th House District, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Singer, an engineering professional out of Warren who won the 13th House District Republican primary, acknowledged he's running an uphill race. Only 25 people voted in the Republican primary in Detroit, with 10 of those votes going to Singer.

"The next one will be a lot tougher," Singer said of the April general election. "But you’ve seen cases before where people win highly unlikely races. It’s never over till it’s over.”

The winners of the seat in April will serve a partial term ending Jan. 1, 2025 and will need to run again in the August primary and November general election if they'd like to retain their seats for a full, two-year term after that. It's likely that the 13th House District will change significantly ahead of the August primary, as it is expected to be impacted by the state redistricting commission's court-ordered redraw of select districts.

Herzberg led with about 35.6% of the vote in the 25th House District, made up primarily of the cities of Westland and Wayne, and fellow Westland council member Andrea Rutkowski had 29.9% and Layla Taha won 21.8% of ballots cast. Rutkowski had been endorsed by Whitmer, while Taha had won Tlaib's endorsement.

Xiong won the 13th House District Democratic primary with 78.9% of the overall vote. Her win included 88% of the vote in the city of Warren and 44.3% of the vote in northeast Detroit precincts that make up part of the 13th House District, according to unofficial results.

LaMar Lemmons III, a Black Detroit political consultant seeking the seat, took second with 14.9% of the overall vote.

Lemmons won a mere 5.6% in the city of Warren but 50.2% of the vote in the Detroit area of the district. Still, Lemmon's gains in Detroit weren't enough to counter Xiong's landslide in Warren in the overall primary.

In the Republican primary for the 13th House, Ronald Singer won the race with 63% of the overall vote, including 63% in the city of Warren and 40% of the 25 votes cast in the Republican primary in Detroit, according to unofficial results.

Powell was the lone Republican in the 25th House District primary.

House Democrats hope the April elections will break the current 54-54 tie and restore Democrats' narrow 56-54 majority in the House with Herzberg and Xiong. The House has largely been at a standstill since the first of the year, as House Republican Leader Matt Hall insists on shared power and Democratic House Speaker Joe Tate refuses to loosen his grip on the gavel.

Besides Herzberg, Rutkowski and Taha, Wayne-Westland Community Schools board member Melandie Hines and Democratic campaign worker and environmental advocate Shannon Rochon also competed in the 25th House District Democratic primary. The district is made up primarily of Wayne and Westland, with some precincts from Canton Township and Dearborn Heights.

In the Warren-based 13th House District, three Democrats were competing in Tuesday's primary: Lemmons, Xiong and Warren church administrator Suzanne Ostosh. The district includes a portion of northeast Detroit along the Warren border.

In the 13th House District Republican primary, Singer faced Warren resident Brandon Cumbee and pastor Curtiss Ostosh — Suzanne Ostosh’s husband.

Whitmer announced the special elections for Coleman and Stone's seats in late November, giving candidates mere days to consider entering the race and clerks an extremely short timeline to prepare.

eleblanc@detroitnews.com