Two new Democrats have filed campaign finance committees to run in the 35th Senate district, which remains without a special election date more than 200 days after the office’s prior holder, now-U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City), joined Congress on Jan. 3.
The Democrats are Brandell Adams, the 35-year-old chair of the Saginaw County Democratic Party since November 2024, and Saginaw Fire Captain Chedrick Greene.
Adams was appointed Bridgeport Township trustee to fill a vacancy in fall 2021 and won reelection twice in the community of around 10,100 people. He is also a Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appointee to the Michigan Board of Psychology.
On July 30, a candidate committee was filed with the Secretary of State for Democrat Greene, the City of Saginaw’s fire captain and a retired command senior enlisted leader for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. He has also served as an executive board member of the International Association of Firefighters Local 102 and is part of the 2025 cohort with Saginaw Valley State University’s Henry March Institute for Public Policy (HMIPP).
The HMIPP was started in 2011, providing campaign and “effective governance” training for individuals in the Great Lakes Bay Region.
Polling was conducted in SD-35 for a Cameron Johnson, although nobody by that name matched the accompanying biography. However, the bio did match that of Greene.
Adams and Greene look to join a Democratic primary with Pamela Pugh, president of the State Board of Education.
From May 16 through July 20, Pugh received $17,681 in contributions for the seat and has spent $3,496 in total. However, the Democratic filings are right now being tracked as part of the overall 2026 election cycle, like other state Senate candidates beginning to raise money ahead of next year’s elections. Typically, when a governor calls a special election, a deadline for filing an affidavit of identity, as well as submitting nominating petitions or a filing fee, will be scheduled as well. Legislators that have run recently in both special elections and traditional elections, like Reps. Mai Xiong (D-Warren) and Peter Herzberg (D-Westland), continue to use the same campaign finance accounts they initially filed for the first special election that brought them to Lansing.
The vacancy in McDonald Rivet’s old Senate seat officially started on Jan. 3, meaning that as of this writing, 213 days have gone by and Whitmer still has not called a special election.
If a special election were called today, many around the state Capitol anticipate that two-term Rep. Bill G. Schuette (R-Midland) would enter. His House candidate committee demonstrates obvious fundraising strength that would be paired with his strong name ID in the area. After the November elections last year, Schuette raised $119,162 in candidate account contributions and had $152,482 in available cash in it as of July 20.
He announced last week that he hosted a fundraiser where he raised another $100,000.
“For too long, our district has lacked an advocate in the state Senate. Now, more than ever, we need leadership rooted in real life experiences of working people,” said Adams in a campaign video. “Democrats hold the Senate majority by one seat, and I feel an urgency to protect it. The GOP, fueled by extreme MAGA ideology, will be well-funded and will do anything to win this seat.”
Rep. Timothy Beson (R-Bay City) has also expressed interest in SD-35.
Article courtesy MIRS News for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter
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