# 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. It has been represented by Republican Jonathan Lindsey since 2023, succeeding fellow Republican Dale Zorn.

## Geography

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

### 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.
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. It bordered the state of Ohio, and shared a water border with Canada via Lake Erie.

## List of senators

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

## Recent election results
### 2018

2018 Michigan Senate election, District 17 :
| Party | 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 | Total votes | Total votes | 99,870 | 100 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### 2014

2014 Michigan Senate election, District 17 :
| Party | 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 | Total votes | Total votes | 75,187 | 100 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### Federal and statewide results

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

## Historical district boundaries

| Description | Apportionment Plan |
| Lapeer County Oakland County (part) Addison Township Brandon Township Independence Township Oakland Township Orion Township Oxford Township Pontiac Waterford Township | 1964 Apportionment Plan |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Lenawee County Monroe County Washtenaw County (part) Augusta Township Milan Saline York Township | 1992 Apportionment Plan |
| 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 |
| Lenawee County Monroe County | 2011 Apportionment Plan |