An election was held on November 3, 1970, to elect all 38 members of the Michigan Senate for the 76th Michigan Legislature. The election resulted in an even 19–19 split between Democrats and Republicans. The Republicans were able to hold on to control of the chamber due to the tie-breaking vote of the lieutenant governor.
History In the 1966 general election, the Republicans won a 20–18 majority, from what had been a Democratic majority. In January 1970, Sander Levin resigned as minority leader to seek the Democratic nomination for governor. The Democrats elected George S. Fitzgerald to succeed him. In June 1970, Emil Lockwood resigned as majority leader to seek the Republican nomination for Michigan Secretary of State. Robert VanderLaan was elected to succeed Lockwood.
The 1970 state primary was held on August 4. Nineteen incumbents faced contested primary elections, 11 Democrats and 8 Republicans. Three incumbents were unseated in the primary, all in the Detroit area. In the Democratic primary, Roger Craig was defeated by Patrick McCollough, and Raymond D. Dzendzel was defeated by Jack Faxon. Republican George Kuhn was defeated by Carl Pursell.
The general election was held on November 3. The election resulted in an even 19–19 split of Democrats and Republicans in the chamber. Republican N. Lorraine Beebe, the only woman in the state Senate, was the only incumbent ousted. She was defeated by David Plawecki. While the state Senate was evenly split, the Republicans still gained control. Governor William Milliken won re-election with his running mate, James H. Brickley. Brickley was to serve as lieutenant governor, and have a tie-breaking in the state Senate, giving Republicans the advantage. On November 11, after the general election but before the next session of the legislature, the Republicans used their state Senate majority to pass a rule change which helped ensure their control of the chamber in the next session.
After the election, VanderLaan was re-elected majority leader, and Fitzgerald was re-elected minority leader.
The state Senate was sworn in on January 13, 1971.
Results The following are the official results as printed in the 1971–1972 Michigan Manual. The official results purposefully excluded scattered write-in votes.
Statewide Party Candi-dates VotesCounty election results in Saginaw County in the 36th district and Baraga County in the 38th district were changed and corrected, but were not updated in the official state results. Seats No. % No. +/– % Republican Party 38 1,125,379 45.15% 19 1 50.00% Democratic Party 38 1,362,469 54.66% 19 1 50.00% American Independent Party 5 4,333 0.17% 0 0.00%Total 81 2,492,181 100.00% 38 100.00%
By district
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