Former Marquette City Commissioner Sara Cambensy will join house democrats at the State Capitol building after the results of Tuesday’s special election for Marquette County’s 109th House district. Cambensy now holds the seat of the late John Kivela, who committed suicide in early May.
Representative-elect Sara Cambensy surpassed Rep. candidate Rich Rossway in the Nov. 7 election by 56.48 to 42.17 percent, as of 11 p.m., with all four precincts from the 109th district reporting.
“I’m humbled by the support from the people of the 109th district. By winning, I understand that I’ve been given their trust to take their voice to Lansing, and that I work to represent everyone—not just those who voted for me,” Cambensy said in a statement on Wednesday.
“I’m also proud of the clean campaign my team ran,” she continued. “We made a decision early on to stay focused on the issues and Lansing respected my wishes to not go negative.”
The statement ended with, “I look forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead of us and I have no doubt in my mind that Michigan can be the 21st century economic powerhouse in our nation moving forward. We have the vision, the people and determination to get us there. Thank you for believing in me and electing me as your leader in the 109th district to go to Lansing and get the job done.”
The 109th district in the Upper Peninsula was not the only district in Michigan to hold a special election on Tuesday, however, as there was also a special election held down downstate in Detroit’s 1st District.
Downstate, the new representative-elect is Democrat Tenisha Yancey, an attorney who has worked as an assistant prosecutor in Wayne County. Yancey heftily prevailed over Republican Mark Cochran, 71 to 25 percent as of 11 p.m., with all precincts reporting.
The primaries for both seats in Tuesday’s election were held back in August. The wins for the Democratic Party on Tuesday night will return the House to having 63 republicans and 47 democrats.
“Representative-Elect Sara Cambensy will bring the values of the Upper Peninsula to Lansing and continue a long-lasting legacy of bi-partisan leadership we are accustomed to,” the Marquette County Democrats said in a statement on Wednesday. “We are extremely proud of the campaign [Cambensy] ran that was based on the issues that face us every day here in the U.P. This victory now sets up our path to 2018 where we must continue the style of grassroots campaigning that ‘Team Cambensy’ displayed.”
