LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – State Rep. Dave Prestin secured the Republican nomination last month for Michigan’s 38th District state Senate seat, setting up a November matchup with Democrat Kelli Van Ginhoven for the seat term-limited Sen. Ed McBroom has held for more than a decade.
Prestin, 60, frames his campaign as a continuation of the region’s long-running push to get state policy tailored to the Upper Peninsula rather than applied uniformly from Lansing. He pointed to what he called the region’s declining economic base as evidence the U.P. is often overlooked in state decisions, citing the loss of small family farms in the late 1970s and early 1980s and the closures of major employers like Harnischfeger in Escanaba and the White Pine mine.
“This isn’t about party, this isn’t about politics, this is about advocating for the Upper Peninsula,” Prestin said.
Before entering politics, Prestin worked as a firefighter and paramedic and ran a truck stop in Cedar River before selling it. He later served as a county commissioner before winning election to the state House. He said that background, along with his work on energy and healthcare policy, shaped his decision to run for the Senate seat.
On energy, Prestin pointed to bipartisan legislation he worked on in the House addressing natural gas generation capacity in the U.P. as an example of the kind of coalition-building he wants to bring to the Senate.
“We’re all on this ship together, and whether it stays afloat or sinks, it’s up to us,” Prestin said.
Prestin also raised concerns about how the state distributes funding tied to rural health care, arguing the Upper Peninsula risks losing out to downstate interests under the state’s current rural health transformation funding plan.
Prestin said he expects to see ticket-splitting among U.P. voters this fall, with some backing him while supporting Democrats in other races on the same ballot, and warned that rising partisanship could undermine the region’s ability to advocate for itself in Lansing.
“The partisanship that exists today, if we allow it to invade the Upper Peninsula and our discussions, we will lose,” Prestin said.
Asked what he sees as the most pressing issue heading into the general election, Prestin pointed to conditions inside Michigan’s prisons, saying corrections officers have faced chronic understaffing and forced overtime for years.
“These corrections officers are living a career that is not meant for a lifetime,” Prestin said. “Every shift, when tension and stress is so high, it takes a little bit of your humanity away from you every day.”
Prestin said he also wants to focus on housing affordability for younger residents, describing a budget-neutral program for first-time homebuyers as one option he’d like to see considered.
Prestin faces Van Ginhoven in the general election on November 3. WZMQ 19 will sit down with Van Ginhoven on Friday for a separate profile on her campaign for the seat.
