Navy veteran Andrew Beeler seeks the open 25th District Senate seat as Rep. Joe Pavlov defends the Port Huron-area House seat

PORT HURON, Mich. — Two of the Blue Water Area’s seats in Lansing are on the Nov. 3 ballot, and Republicans are defending both. In the open 25th District state Senate seat, former state Rep. Andrew Beeler of Port Huron faces Democrat April L. Osentoski of Bad Axe. In the 64th state House District, first-term Republican Rep. Joseph Pavlov of Kimball faces Democrat Ken Heuvelman of Lakeport. Both matchups are on the St. Clair County Clerk’s unofficial November candidate list.

An open Senate seat. Sen. Dan Lauwers, a Republican who has held the seat since 2019, is not on the November ballot. The 25th District takes in Huron and Sanilac counties and parts of St. Clair, Macomb and Tuscola counties, according to The Ballot Brief’s race page, which cites Michigan Secretary of State results. Beeler won a four-way Republican primary on Aug. 4 with 13,317 votes, about 63%, to 3,694 for former state Rep. Gary Eisen, 3,071 for Randy Schultz and 1,035 for John Mahaney, according to Ballotpedia’s tally of the results. Osentoski was unopposed.

Beeler: lower taxes, school choice, gun rights. Beeler, a 2014 U.S. Naval Academy graduate and former Navy surface warfare officer, served two terms in the state House before leaving in 2024. His campaign’s issues page leads with taxes. “The level of taxation should be the least amount possible, not the most,” it says. “This logic lends credence to our flat income tax.” He backs road funding “without levying additional taxes,” school choice that “includes charter, private and parochial schools,” and holding the Michigan Department of Education to its promise to grade every school. He calls the state’s red-flag law, which lets courts order guns removed from people judged a danger, “the most insidiously deviant form” of taking away the right to bear arms because it allows seizures “without due process of law.” He describes himself as “100% pro-life” and says he will oppose taxpayer-funded abortion and defend parental consent laws.

Osentoski: seniors and rural health care. Osentoski’s campaign site says she is “focusing on issues that are specific to Senior Citizens and Rural Michigan, including healthcare, affordability, access to care and services.” It pitches “pragmatic, common sense, compassionate leadership” and a government that “represents ALL people, empowering with empathy, equity, and equality.” The site’s events list includes a “No Kings” protest in Bad Axe in March. It does not lay out positions on taxes, roads or schools.

The 64th House District. The House district covers the cities of Port Huron and Marysville; Burtchville, Clyde, Fort Gratiot, Grant, Kimball, Port Huron and St. Clair townships; and Worth Township in Sanilac County, the Port Huron Times Herald reported in 2024. Pavlov, a retired Marysville high school teacher, won the seat that year after Beeler stepped aside. He was unopposed in the August primary with 9,911 votes, and Heuvelman, also unopposed, drew 8,944 votes in the Democratic primary, according to Ballotpedia. In Lansing, Pavlov serves on the House Agriculture, Education and Workforce, and Families and Veterans committees, according to the state’s Michigan Legislative Biography record. He is a co-sponsor of House Bill 5519, which would roll Michigan’s income tax rate back to 3.9%, according to the Legislature’s bill page. In 2024, Pavlov told the Times Herald he ran because of “the taxes and restrictions” he heard about from business owners, called himself a life member of the National Rifle Association and said, “I’ve always believed in the life issue.”

Heuvelman: addiction recovery and behavioral health. Heuvelman, a substance-use disorder program coordinator, ran in the 2024 Democratic primary and finished third. He told the Times Herald then that he serves on the St. Clair County Board of Health, the health department’s advisory board, and wanted to take a push for better substance use and mental health treatment to Lansing and close “significant gaps” in behavioral health care. He said what sparked his run was seeing St. Clair County’s representatives vote against an overdose-response initiative along party lines.

Also on Port Huron ballots. City voters pick a mayor in a three-way race and fill three City Council seats from a field of six. Port Huron Area School District voters choose three board members for six-year terms from four candidates: Aubree Mayhew, Julie McCoy, Frank Partipilo and Jessica Totty, according to the county list. Statewide, voters decide the governor’s race, where Republican John James is pitching an income tax cut against Democrat Jocelyn Benson, the attorney general’s race, Proposal 1 on calling a constitutional convention and Proposal 2 on utility and contractor campaign donations. For the Thumb end of the Senate district, see our look at Huron County’s public safety millage.

How to vote. Monday, Oct. 19, was the last day to register to vote online or by mail. After that, residents can still register in person at their city or township clerk’s office with proof of residency, through 8 p.m. on Election Day. Statewide early in-person voting runs Oct. 24 through Nov. 1; check with your city or township clerk for early voting sites and hours. Absentee ballot applications are due by 5 p.m. Oct. 30 by mail or online, or by 4 p.m. Nov. 2 in person at the clerk’s office. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. County canvasses must finish by Nov. 17, and the Board of State Canvassers certifies statewide results by Nov. 23. Voters can check their registration and see their sample ballot at Michigan.gov/Vote.

Updated Oct. 20, 2026: The Oct. 19 deadline to register to vote online or by mail has passed, so the voting details now say so. Residents can still register in person at their city or township clerk’s office with proof of residency through 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Sources:
St. Clair County Clerk, Unofficial Candidate List for November 2026 (State Senator 25th District, State Representative 64th District, City of Port Huron, Port Huron Area School District), https://stclaircountyclerk.org/Public/File/november_2026_candidate_list_pdf
St. Clair County Clerk, November 3, 2026 Proposals, https://stclaircountyclerk.org/Public/File/web_november_2026_proposals_pdf
The Ballot Brief, “April L. Osentoski vs. Andrew Beeler for Michigan Senate District 25,” https://theballotbrief.com/state/michigan/st-clair-county/michigan-senate-district-25
Ballotpedia, “Michigan State Senate District 25” (Aug. 4, 2026 primary results, cross-check), https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_State_Senate_District_25
Ballotpedia, “Michigan House of Representatives District 64” (Aug. 4, 2026 primary results, cross-check), https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_House_of_Representatives_District_64
Ballotpedia, “Andrew Beeler” (biography), https://ballotpedia.org/Andrew_Beeler
Beeler for Michigan, “Issues,” https://www.beelerformichigan.com/issues
April Osentoski for State Senate 25th District, campaign site, https://aprilformichigan.com
Michigan Legislature, House Bill 5519 of 2026 (sponsors), https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Bills/Bill?ObjectName=2026-HB-5519
Library of Michigan, Michigan Legislative Biography, “Joe Pavlov,” https://mdoe.state.mi.us/legislators/Legislator/LegislatorDetail/5680
Port Huron Times Herald, “Meet the 8 primary candidates running for state rep in Michigan’s 64th District,” May 5, 2024, https://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/politics/2024/05/05/meet-the-8-primary-candidates-running-for-64th-district-state-representative/73502765007/
Port Huron Times Herald, Jackie Smith, “Ready for ‘hard work’: Democrat, Republican hopefuls set tone for 64th state rep. seat,” Aug. 12, 2024, https://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/2024/08/12/ready-for-hard-work-dem-gop-hopefuls-set-tone-to-vie-for-64th-state-rep-seat/74700685007/
Michigan Department of State, “Absentee voting” and election calendar (registration, early voting and absentee deadlines), https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/voting/absentee-voting
Photo: Notorious4life, “Port Huron (March 2019).jpg,” March 17, 2019, Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/), cropped and resized, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Port_Huron_(March_2019).jpg

Port Huron · Election 2026 coverage

Tags: Port Huron · Election 2026 · State Senate · State House · Taxes · School Choice