Michigan primary results: State Rep. Neil Friske loses reelection bid

• Conservative Michigan lawmaker Neil Friske loses bid for re-election to business owner Parker Fairbairn
• Friske in June was arrested following an incident involving a firearm, though no charges have been filed
• Another Republican legislator, state Rep. Bob Bezotte of Livingston County, also unseated in primary loss

Michigan state Rep. Neil Friske — a Charlevoix Republican who was arrested by Lansing police in June following an incident involving a firearm — will be primaried out of office, preliminary election results show. 

With challenger Parker Fairbairn out to a wide lead, the Associated Press called the 107th District state House race at 11:34 p.m. See the latest results here.

Fairbairn will advance to the general election to take on Democrat Jodi Decker, who ran unopposed in her primary.

In June, Friske was arrested shortly before 3 a.m. on the 2000 block of Windbreak Lane in Lansing, where he owns a home. Officers made contact, and Friske was arrested for possible felony-level assault and weapons offenses, though no charges have been issued. 

As of last week, Lansing police told Bridge the investigation was still ongoing, and Friske has denied wrongdoing. 

Related:

• Michigan state Rep. Neil Friske arrested, jailed in Lansing
• Michigan primary results: Elissa Slotkin, Mike Rogers win U.S. Senate races
• Alpena voters approve library tax, despite fuss over sex-themed books

Fairbairn, who enters the general election as the frontrunner in a district that favors Republicans, celebrated what he called a "historic" primary win.

"I’m honored to be your Republican nominee," he said in a late-night victory statement, "and I will not disappoint you. We will bring our conservative voice to Lansing and fight for our district’s needs." 

Friske, one of the Legislature’s most conservative lawmakers and a member of the House Freedom Caucus, was not the only incumbent to lose their seat in the primary.

State Rep. Bob Bezotte, a Livingston County Republican representing the 50th state House district, narrowly lost to challenger Jason Woolford, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and nonprofit executive, according to unofficial results. The race was decided by fewer than 500 votes.

Bezotte, who was accused of abuse by his wife in divorce filings, had reconsidered an initial decision to step down from office. He was at one point disqualified from the primary ballot in a dispute over his primary address, but pressed the matter in court and was ultimately granted a slot on the ballot. 

Other lawmakers survive challenges

Most of the other 35 incumbent state lawmakers who faced primary challenges on Tuesday were leading in their respective races as of 12 a.m. Wednesday, though votes were still being tallied in many of the districts. 

A handful of ultra-conservative lawmakers were primaried by opponents who had argued the incumbents were diminishing their districts’ influence in the Capitol.

Josh Schriver — an Oxford Republican who was sanctioned by House leadership after sharing what many lawmakers decried as a racist meme on social media — was leading primary opponent Randy LeVasseur in the 66th District by a wide margin.

Republican state Reps. Steve Carra of Three Rivers and Matt Maddock of Milford were also well ahead of their opponents in primary races to retain their seats in the 36th and 51st Districts. 

On the Democratic side, incumbents in 11 of 16 Detroit or Detroit-adjacent districts faced at least one primary challenger after a federal court ordered the state’s redistricting commission to draw new district boundaries.

Though preliminary results in the metro Detroit area remain incomplete, initial results showed incumbents in a handful of competitive races were pulling ahead of their challengers. 

In the 14th District, first term Rep. Mike McFall of Hazel Park fended off a challenge from longtime Warren Mayor Jim Fouts, with the Associated Press calling the race in his favor at 11:26 p.m. 

Rep. Mai Xiong, a Warren Democrat who was elected in April to fill a partial term in the 13th district, had the lead in a competitive primary that includes Richard Steenland, a former Roseville lawmaker who was primaried out of a re-election bid in 2022 by Rep. Kim Edwards, an Eastpointe Democrat. 

Reps. Regina Weiss, D-Oak Park, and Alabas Farhat, D-Dearborn, were also leading in their respective districts, though they had stiff competition from primary challengers.