State Rep. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, was on her way to reclaiming her spot in the state House for the 69th District for the third consecutive term.
Whitmer topped first-time runner Angela Lindsay, R-Haslett. With 36 percent of precincts reporting, Whitmer was winning with 8,424 votes to Lindsay's 5,171.
Although Whitmer said the race was stressful, she was confident in her voters.
"I feel like I have a little more security, I feel a little more established," the 33-year-old mother of two said. "I feel like my constituents know who I am.
Whitmer, an MSU graduate, served on the state House Appropriations Committee and said she will fight for higher education funding in a time of state budget troubles. She said she wants Michigan to begin taxing services such as haircuts or rounds of golf, similar to other states, to help generate state revenue.
It's her experience, her husband Gary Shrewsbury said, that will help her in her third and final term.
"Her position as the Democratic leader of the appropriations committee has helped in these difficult budget times," he said. "She's full of ideas, and if re-elected, she's going to work hard to implement them."
Many votes might have come from independent Republicans, he said.
"She does a great job of working across the aisle with members of the other party to get things done," he said. "That shows in her election."
Whitmer earned her undergraduate degree from MSU, and received her law degree from the Detroit College of Law. She served as a corporate litigation attorney with Dickinson Wright law firm before entering politics.
Whitmer was elected for her first term in 2000, representing the 70th District. Due to redistricting, she now represents the 69th District.
Lindsay, 29, said her priorities are helping small businesses grow, rolling back Michigan's single business tax, and shrinking the funding gap between MSU and other state universities.
Lindsay graduated with a business and marketing degree from Wright State University in Dayton.
When Lindsay saw things she didn't like in the state House, she decided it was time to take action.
"I was raised to not just stand back and complain, but to do something about it," she said. "And I decided to be the representative I wanted to see in office."
Many of the precinct races were closer than she expected they would be, and that, she said, showed the support she received.
"If I come in close at all, I will have won in opinion," she said, adding that she would know what to do next time. "I wish I'd been more organized. This was my first campaign so I didn't know exactly what I was doing."
