Michigan's 17th Senate district

Michigan's 17th Senate district is one of 38 districts in the Michigan Senate. The 17th district was created by the 1850 Michigan Constitution, as the 1835 constitution only permitted a maximum of eight senate districts.^[2][3] It has been represented by Republican Jonathan Lindsey since 2023, succeeding fellow Republican Dale Zorn.^[4][5]

Michigan's 17th State Senate district
Senator	Jonathan Lindsey R–Coldwater
Demographics	85% White 4% Black 6% Hispanic 1% Asian 4% Multiracial
Population (2022)	270,220
Notes	[1]

Geography

District 17 encompasses all of Branch, Cass, and St. Joseph counties, as well as parts of Berrien, Calhoun, Hillsdale, and Jackson counties.^[6]

2011 Apportionment Plan

District 17, as dictated by the 2011 Apportionment Plan, covered Lenawee and Monroe Counties on the outskirts of Detroit and Toledo, including the communities of Monroe, Adrian, Tecumseh, Carleton, Dundee, Hudson, Morenci, Blissfield, Clinton, Bedford Township, Monroe Township, Frenchtown Township, Berlin Township, Madison Township, and part of Milan.^[7]

The district was located entirely within Michigan's 7th congressional district, and overlapped with the 17th, 56th, 57th, and 65th districts of the Michigan House of Representatives.^[8] It bordered the state of Ohio, and shared a water border with Canada via Lake Erie.^[9]

List of senators

Senator	Party		Dates	Residence	Notes
Edward S. Moore		Democratic	1853–1854	Three Rivers	[10][11]
Charles Upson		Republican	1855–1856	Centreville	[10][12]
Alonzo Garwood		Republican	1857–1858	Cassopolis	[10][13]
George Meacham		Republican	1859–1860	Union	[10][14]
Gilman C. Jones		Republican	1861–1862	Dowagiac	[10][15]
Emmons Buell		Republican	1863–1864	Cass County	[10][16]
Levi Aldrich		Republican	1865–1866	Edwardsburg	[10][17]
William B. Williams		Republican	1867–1870	Allegan	[10][18]
Francis B. Stockbridge		Republican	1871–1872	Saugatuck	[10][19]
Adam Beattie		Republican	1873–1874	Ovid	[10][20]
George M. Huntington		Democratic	1875–1876	Mason	[10][20]
Lorison J. Taylor		Republican	1877–1878	Laingsburg	[10][21][22]
Horace Halbert		Republican	1879–1880	Fowlerville	[10][23]
William M. Kilpatrick		Republican	1881–1882	Owosso	[10][24]
Justin R. Whiting		Greenback	1883–1884	St. Clair	Also backed by the Democrats.[10][25][26]
William M. Cline		Democratic	1885–1886	Port Huron	Elected on a fusion ticket in 1884, backed by both the Democrats and the Greenback Party.[10][27][28]
Edwin G. Fox		Republican	1887–1890	Mayville	[10][29]
John Bastone		Patrons[a]	1891	Caro	Also endorsed by the Democrats. Resigned.[10][30][31]
Edmund M. Barnard		Republican	1893–1898	Grand Rapids	[10][32]
Robert D. Graham		Republican	1899–1900	Grand Rapids	[10][33]
Augustus W. Weekes		Republican	1901–1904	Lowell	[10][34]
Huntley Russell		Republican	1905–1908	Kent County	[10][35]
Horace T. Barnaby Jr.		Republican	1909–1912	Grand Rapids	[10][36]
Thomas H. McNaughton		Republican	1913–1914	Ada	[10][37]
John Paul		Republican	1915–1916	East Grand Rapids	[10][38]
Anson R. Harrington		Democratic	1917–1918	Comstock Park	[10][39]
Thomas H. McNaughton		Republican	1919–1924	Ada	[10][37]
James C. Quinlan		Republican	1925–1928	Grand Rapids	[10][40]
James A. Skinner		Republican	1929–1932	Cedar Springs	[10][41]
J. Neal Lamoreaux		Democratic	1933–1934	Comstock Park	[10][42]
M. Harold Saur		Republican	1935–1936	Kent City	[10][43]
J. Neal Lamoreaux		Democratic	1937–1938	Comstock Park	[10][42]
M. Harold Saur		Republican	1939–1946	Kent City	[10][43]
James C. Quinlan		Republican	1947–1948	Grand Rapids	Died in office.[10][40]
John B. Martin Jr.		Republican	1949–1950	Grand Rapids	[10][44]
Charles R. Feenstra		Republican	1951–1962	Grand Rapids	[10][45]
Robert VanderLaan		Republican	1963–1964	Grand Rapids	[10][46]
Carl W. O'Brien		Democratic	1965–1966	Pontiac	[10][47]
L. Harvey Lodge		Republican	1967–1974	Waterford	[10][48][49]
Kerry K. Kammer		Democratic	1975–1982	Pontiac	[10][50]
Richard D. Fessler		Republican	1983–1990	Union Lake	[10][51]
Jim Berryman		Democratic	1995–1998	Adrian	[10][52]
Beverly S. Hammerstrom		Republican	1999–2006	Temperance	[10][53]
Randy Richardville		Republican	2007–2014	Monroe	[10][54]
Dale Zorn		Republican	2015–2022	Ida	[10][55]
Jonathan Lindsey		Republican	2023–present	Coldwater	[56]

Recent election results

2022

2022 Michigan Senate election, District 17^[57]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jonathan Lindsey	21,717	61.4
	Republican	Kim LaSata (incumbent)	13,631	38.6
Total votes			35,348	100
General election
	Republican	Jonathan Lindsey	66,134	65.4
	Democratic	Scott Rex Starr	35,011	34.6
Total votes			101,145	100
	Republican hold

2018

2018 Michigan Senate election, District 17^[57]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dale Zorn (incumbent)	57,771	57.8
	Democratic	Bill LaVoy	39,196	39.2
	Libertarian	Chad McNamara	2,903	2.9
Total votes			99,870	100
	Republican hold

2014

2014 Michigan Senate election, District 17^[57]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dale Zorn	38,442	51.1
	Democratic	Doug Spade	34,706	46.2
	U.S. Taxpayers	Chad McNamara	2,039	2.7
Total votes			75,187	100
	Republican hold

Federal and statewide results

Year	Office	Results[58]
2020	President	Trump 59.9 – 38.3%
2018	Senate	James 54.8 – 43.1%
	Governor	Schuette 52.7 – 44.3%
2016	President	Trump 58.1 – 36.3%
2014	Senate	Land 47.9 – 47.6%
	Governor	Snyder 52.4 – 44.8%
2012	President	Obama 49.5 – 49.4%
	Senate	Stabenow 54.9 – 41.4%

Historical district boundaries

Map	Description	Apportionment Plan	Notes
	Lapeer County Oakland County (part) Addison Township Brandon Township Independence Township Oakland Township Orion Township Oxford Township Pontiac Waterford Township	1964 Apportionment Plan	[59]
	Livingston County (part) Brighton Township Cohoctah Township Conway Township Deerfield Township Genoa Township Handy Township Hartland Township Oceola Township Tyrone Township Oakland County (part) Groveland Township Highland Township Holly Township Independence Township Keego Harbor Pontiac Rose Township Springfield Township Sylvan Lake Waterford Township White Lake Township	1972 Apportionment Plan	[60]
	Oakland County (part) Brandon Township Bloomfield Hills Bloomfield Township Commerce Township Groveland Township Highland Township Holly Township Independence Township Lyon Township Milford Township Orchard Lake Village Rose Township South Lyon Southfield Township Springfield Township Sylvan Lake Walled Lake West Bloomfield Township White Lake Township	1982 Apportionment Plan	[61]
	Lenawee County Monroe County Washtenaw County (part) Augusta Township Milan Saline York Township	1992 Apportionment Plan	[62]
	Jackson County (part) Grass Lake Township Leoni Township Norvell Township Summit Township Monroe County Washtenaw County (part) Bridgewater Township Lodi Township Manchester Township Milan (part) Pittsfield Township (part) Saline Saline Township York Township	2001 Apportionment Plan	[63]
	Lenawee County Monroe County	2011 Apportionment Plan	[64]

Notes

1. The Patrons of Industry were a farming organization founded in Port Huron, Michigan which, by 1890, had begun participating in political action independent of other political parties at the state level.