• State Rep. Ranjeev Puri, the current House minority leader and Canton Democrat, will be the state House Speaker next term
• As speaker, Puri says he hopes to ‘return some normalcy’ to the chamber after a historically unproductive session
• House Democrats will have a 63-seat majority starting in 2027, their largest margin in decades

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LANSING — Michigan Democrats, who won full control of the Legislature in last week’s election, have a “mandate” to try to lower costs and grow the state’s population, according to incoming House Speaker Ranjeev Puri.

“I don’t want to see us focus on who’s playing in what sport, or who’s using which restroom — I want us to start tackling why our household median income in Michigan is lagging behind our peer states, why our population growth is still not where it needs to be,” Puri told Bridge Michigan in an interview.

“That is a sign of success, of what these two years could be.” 

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The 42-year-old Canton Township Democrat will lead a 63-47 seat House majority next term, the party’s largest since 1964. Democrats ousted 10 incumbents in last week’s election, and colleagues quickly selected Puri to serve as the 80th speaker for the two-year session that begins in January. 

Coupled with a 23-15 majority in the Senate and incoming Gov. Jocelyn Benson, Democrats will once again enjoy full control of Lansing.

Puri was part of the 2023-24 Democratic trifecta, which was the party’s first in 40 years. That session began with a flurry of activity, but Democrats crashed and burned in their final weeks as narrow margins, caucus infighting and a Republican walk-out ground the Legislature to a halt. 

This time around, Puri says he has a better idea on how to lead the caucus, and what Democrats’ resounding victory up and down the ballot on Nov. 3 means for Michigan.

Topics are already being floated: Affordable housing, accessible healthcare, improving the state’s education system. 

But both Puri and Senate Majority Leader-elect Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, have so far been tight-lipped about what they might tackle first, particularly given budget pressures due to state and federal tax changes.

“These are going to be big discussions” among legislative Democrats and Benson, Camilleri told Bridge in a separate interview. “I mean, we’ve got to get on the same page, and I’m confident that we will. But these are discussions that we all need to start having.” 

Puri, the son of Indian immigrants, is the first Sikh American to serve in the Michigan Legislature, let alone as speaker. He worked in the auto industry, and on President Barack Obama’s campaigns, before running for office himself and has served as House minority leader the past two years. 

He’ll replace outgoing House Speaker Matt Hall, who won re-election last week but will not lead his caucus next term. 

Bridge spoke with Puri about how he plans to lead the Michigan House and what he hopes to accomplish over the next two years. The following questions and answers have been edited for clarity. 

Bridge: When we talked before the election, you kept a lot of policy priorities close to the chest and said you wanted to see your membership first. Now that the dust is settled, what can we expect out of House Democrats next term?

Puri: It’s still kind of being fleshed out. I think a couple things are clear: One charge upfront here is to return some normalcy to this institution. It has been weaponized and led by just political divisiveness in terms of all aspects of it for the last two years, and that’s just not how the institution has been designed to work. 

The institution is not a place in which you enact policy only for the people that vote for you. It has been designed to make sure that we’re doing the people’s business, making sure that we’re making people’s lives better… kind of returning to the norm of how (the Legislature) is supposed to run, and expanding the funnel of not artificially creating rules that it’s going to be the least productive legislature of all time — again, just unnecessary. 

I guess I shouldn’t say it that way. It’s just a stark contrast to just how I envision leading the institution.

How do you see yourself leading the House? 

Puri: We’re going to be charged with enacting whatever policies we can at the state level to hopefully supplement the work that these newfound majorities, Democratic majorities, at the federal level can do to kind of thwart these failed economic policies (of the Trump administration).

So, I think that will be kind of a big part of our agenda. I have 26 new members coming in. My approach to leadership has always been decentralized. I’m not someone that has to make everything about me. And, in that same vein, I made a kind of pledge to these new members that they’re going to have an equal share in the kind of agenda that we craft. 

And so, I didn’t really focus beyond Nov. 3 for the last three, six, nine months. I mean my mind, my team, all of our resources were laser focused on delivering, winning, as most seats as we possibly could on Nov. 3. I am thrilled with that outcome, and now we shift that focus to crafting an agenda that is going to meet this moment, that is going to be something that — again, all members of our caucus can have a role in making sure that their perspectives are shared. 

And then we’re going to do that work, obviously, alongside the new Democratic trifecta of Governor Benson, Lieutenant Governor Brinks and Senate Majority Leader-elect Camilleri.

The last time Democrats controlled the state Legislature and governor’s office, it ended pretty badly in the state House. What did you learn from that experience that you’re taking into this upcoming term?

Puri: I learned that we needed to flip more seats, which is why we were focused on Nov. 3. Eleven red-to-blue (district) flips is the most since 1964, I’m being told — and we have a sizable majority now. And, the reality is that every term is different, right? 

Like, the politics, the need, the problems, challenges that are facing a state, the political environment, it all shifts so much from term to term — I mean, four years ago seems like a completely different political environment. 

I think the benefit that we do have is that I, one, have 26 members coming in, which leads to a sizable majority for us — and then for our returning members, we have members in their second, third, fourth and fifth terms, and so there’s just a lot of perspectives, experience and know-how of the institution and how it works. 

And so my charge, my job as speaker and leader of the caucus, is to make sure that …all those perspectives are brought together to enact a robust agenda that is going to actually start tackling transformational policies that can really improve the trajectory of our state. 

I don’t want to see us focus on who’s playing in what sport, or who’s using which restroom — I want us to start tackling why our household median income in Michigan is lagging behind our peer states, why our population growth is still not where it needs to be. That is a sign of success, of what these two years could be. 

Gov.-elect Benson has already identified early priorities for her administration, including passage of a Michigan-specific Voting Rights Act and voluntarily opening up her office to public records requests through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Are those priorities the House will see through? 

Puri: The Voting Rights Act remains a priority for the House Democrats. …We haven’t gotten into individual policies yet as a caucus. We plan to have a lot of forums to be able to do that over the next couple months, in terms of retreats and offsites and all sorts of just creating an environment for all those perspectives to be shared. 

On the question about FOIA, obviously, I think government works best when we are enacting policy that leads to more transparency and anti-corruption, and so (I) look forward to working with the governor and the Senate on just open records legislation. 

But you know the logistics of FOIA, and the framework for 110 elected officials, is very different from the governor and for one office. So, I think we’re just going to have to have more conversations on just what implementation of that could look like, the financial resources that are associated with making sure that it works and the compliance around that. 

So yes, we want to move the needles on these topics. I just don’t know exactly where that individual legislation ends up landing.

Given how large a seat margin House Democrats have with the majority, you don’t have to work with Republicans in order to pass legislation. How do you see yourself interacting with House Minority Leader-elect Tom Kunse, R-Clare, and what role do Republicans occupy in your new majority?

Puri: Honestly, it’s a question for them. I have a great rapport with Minority Leader-elect Kunse. I am hopeful that he’s someone that’s going to be willing to put the institution above all.

But the House Democrats have always had their hands extended, whether we have been the majority or minority. We’ve wanted to do what was best for the people of Michigan. 

You have seen this institution under Republican leadership, again, weaponized and drawn into the depths of the political abyss of just rhetoric and kind of controversial, divisive issues — and everything being viewed from that lens. 

That is not the way that I want to do business. … I want to tackle these larger challenges that the state is facing. I want to put our state on a trajectory to reach its greatest potential. 

That does not happen when you’re leaning into small, divisive wedge issues that don’t really affect the lives of every Michigander — or an overwhelming majority of Michiganders. And so, if the Republicans are ready to put down the political gun, so to speak, and do what’s best for Team Michigan, they are going to find ready and willing partners.

But, again, that’s a decision for them and that incoming caucus.

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