Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, became the chamber's youngest member when she was sworn into her new position in Tuesday's Senate session.
Whitmer defeated Vince Green in last week's special Senate election to fill the vacant 23rd District senate seat.
Whitmer, 34, said she enjoyed the experience and felt welcomed by members from both parties.
She went straight from the Senate session into her new committee meetings Tuesday.
"There was no honeymoon today," Whitmer said.
The committees Whitmer was assigned to were the Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism; Local, Urban and State Affairs; Judiciary Gaming and Casino Oversight; and the Health Policy committee, where she will serve as the Minority Vice Chair.
Her major plans for this week are catching up on the bills and issues before her new committees, since she will be attending committee meetings during the week.
"There will be a lot of reading bills and analyses," she said.
Whitmer said she appreciated the welcome and offers of assistance made on the floor by Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, R-Wyoming, and Senate Minority Leader Bob Emerson, D-Flint.
"We welcome Gretchen to the Senate with open arms," Emerson said in a press release. "She is an able and experienced legislator, and the caucus will benefit greatly from her presence."
She is completely moved into her new fourth-floor office in the Farnum Building, which houses the Senate offices. However, she joked that everything "is not totally organized."
Whitmer said the transition from her old job in the House of Representatives to her new one in the Senate has gone smoothly.
"I am honored by the trust Ingham County residents have placed in me to represent them in the Senate," Whitmer said in a press release. "I've hit the ground, and I am running."
Senate Democratic Floor Leader Mark Schauer, of Battle Creek, is looking forward to working with Whitmer.
"Gretchen's leadership, policy expertise and work ethic will serve the citizens of Ingham County and all of Michigan well," Schauer said in a press release. "She will strengthen our fight to ensure that the interests of Michigan workers and families are the top priority of the Senate every single day."
Whitmer defeated Republican Vince Green with 14,334 votes to 3,371 in the March special election. Whitmer's total was about 80 percent of votes in the election, that had about a 10 percent turnout.
The special election was called by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in January, after Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero resigned to take his new office.
