Republican Dave Prestin runs on energy costs and prison staffing for the U.P.’s open state Senate seat against van Ginhoven and independent Cambensy

MARQUETTE, Mich. — For the first time since 2018, Upper Peninsula voters will pick a new state senator. Republican Sen. Ed McBroom is term-limited in the 38th District, and three candidates are on the Nov. 3 ballot to replace him: Republican state Rep. Dave Prestin, Democrat Kelli van Ginhoven and former Democratic state Rep. Sara Cambensy, who is running without a party.

The district covers most of the U.P.: Alger, Baraga, Delta, Dickinson, Gogebic, Houghton, Iron, Keweenaw, Luce, Marquette, Menominee, Ontonagon and Schoolcraft counties and parts of Chippewa and Mackinac counties, according to an Oct. 14 overview by the Lansing lobbying firm Michigan Legislative Consultants, which lists the seat among the year’s swing races and puts the Republican base vote at 54.3%. The Michigan Bureau of Elections’ official candidate list shows van Ginhoven filed on Aug. 8, 2025, Prestin on Dec. 22, 2025, and Cambensy by petition on July 16, 2026.

Prestin: energy first. Prestin, 60, of Cedar River, is finishing his second term representing the 108th House District. He is a paramedic and volunteer firefighter who ran a truck stop in Cedar River and served on the Menominee County Board of Commissioners. He won the Aug. 4 Republican primary over Beau LaFave, 16,392 votes to 14,071, according to unofficial totals compiled by Ballotpedia. “Energy without a doubt is probably number one,” Prestin told My UP Now in August, pairing it with health care and the economy. He wants Public Act 235, the 2023 law that requires Michigan utilities to move to carbon-free power by 2040, repealed. “The thought that we can do carbon-free generation by 2040, the physics just are not there,” he told WLUC-TV6. He argues U.P. ratepayers would be stuck paying for the region’s natural gas RICE generators, which he said are bonded out to 2050, and for the renewables built to replace them: “We’re going to be paying for two generation assets and only be able to use one.”

Prisons, red tape and teachers. Prestin, the minority vice chair of the House Energy Committee, also points to staffing in the U.P.’s state prisons. He told My UP Now he toured all six facilities and described corrections officers working 16-hour shifts with eight hours off and long drives. “Our corrections officers are living through a virtual hell right now,” he said, and he blamed Corrections Director Heidi Washington for a lack of accountability. He has proposed letting teachers who passed national certification tests such as Praxis skip Michigan’s separate exam, and says state permitting is “antithetical to the entrepreneur,” noting it took his business more than a year to get a liquor license. He has the Michigan Farm Bureau AgriPac’s “Friend of Agriculture” endorsement, My UP Now reported. “This isn’t about party, this isn’t about politics, this is about advocating for the Upper Peninsula,” Prestin told WZMQ 19.

Van Ginhoven: no corporate PAC money. Van Ginhoven, a Delta County commissioner and small business owner, was unopposed in the Democratic primary. She lists affordability and access to health care, mental health services, public school buildings and teacher support, housing, and trade schools and unions as her top issues. “I’m definitely a candidate who does not take corporate PAC money and I do not believe in taking money from big energy or health insurance companies,” she told WLUC. She supports the bill to keep the RICE units running through their bonded life but told the station the region must move away from fossil fuels in the long term.

Cambensy: an independent pitch. Cambensy, a former Marquette city commissioner, represented the 109th House District as a Democrat from 2017 through 2022 and most recently worked as a policy analyst for the Republican-led state House, My UP Now reported. She says running without a party “puts the power back in the UP.” She told the station she would push for more state revenue sharing so local governments do not have to raise fees or seek new millages, and she called the 2040 clean energy goal “unrealistic,” saying, “I think we’re setting ourselves up for failure in terms of cost, efficiency and reliability.” She also criticized large state tax breaks for data centers. All three candidates met in a Sept. 24 forum produced by WNMU Public Media, WLUC-TV6 and mediaBrew Communications that covered affordability, economic development, natural resources, child care, marijuana taxes and housing.

Also on U.P. ballots. In Marquette, seven candidates are running for three City Commission seats, and Marquette Charter Township voters will decide whether to renew their library services millage with Peter White Public Library at no increase in the rate, according to the library. Every Michigan voter will also see the governor’s race, where Republican John James is pitching an income tax cut against Democrat Jocelyn Benson, the Michigan Supreme Court race, and two statewide questions: Proposal 1 on calling a constitutional convention and Proposal 2 on utility and contractor campaign donations.

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:
Michigan Bureau of Elections, 2026 November General Election candidate listing (38th District State Senator), https://mi-boe.entellitrak.com/etk-mi-boe-prod/page.request.do?electionType=GEN&electionYear=2026&page=page.miboePublicReport
Michigan Legislative Consultants, Liz Gullett, “General Election Overview: 38th Senate District,” Oct. 14, 2026, https://mlcmi.com/general-election-overview-38th-senate-district/
WLUC-TV6, Dan Groeneveld, “Nominees for Michigan’s 38th State Senate District share priorities,” Aug. 5, 2026, https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2026/08/06/nominees-michigans-38th-state-senate-district-share-priorities/
My UP Now, Andrew Lorinser and Abby LaForest, “My UP Candidate Spotlight | Rep. Dave Prestin warns of utility rate spikes, prison staffing risks in State Senate campaign,” Aug. 1, 2026, https://www.myupnow.com/news/my-up-candidate-spotlight-rep-dave-prestin-warns-of-utility-rate-spikes-prison-staffing-risks/article_15b3ac68-ec45-4acf-8cdb-0ee2e83dd9e1.html
My UP Now, Schyler Perkins, “My UP Candidate Spotlight | Sara Cambensy aims to buck party divide, make life affordable in Upper Peninsula,” Oct. 13, 2026, https://www.myupnow.com/news/politics/my-up-candidate-spotlight-sara-cambensy-aims-to-buck-party-divide-make-life-affordable-in/article_8fee54a9-238c-4022-972b-b66a306cf752.html
WZMQ 19, Sophia Murphy, “Dave Prestin wins GOP primary, aims to succeed term-limited McBroom in state Senate,” Aug. 12, 2026, https://wzmq19.com/news/367247/dave-prestin-wins-gop-primary-aims-to-succeed-term-limited-mcbroom-in-state-senate/
Ballotpedia, “Michigan State Senate District 38” (unofficial Aug. 4 primary totals, cross-check), https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_State_Senate_District_38
WNMU Public Media / PBS, “Media Meet: Michigan 38th Senate District Candidate Forum,” Sept. 24, 2026, https://www.pbs.org/video/michigan-38th-senate-district-candidate-forum-qkzoz7/
Peter White Public Library, “Millage” (Nov. 3, 2026 Marquette Charter Township renewal), https://pwpl.info/millage/
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: Antony-22, “Michigan Senate Chamber 2025e.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), cropped and resized; derivative shared under the same license, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michigan_Senate_Chamber_2025e.jpg

Upper Peninsula · Election 2026 coverage

Tags: Upper Peninsula · Election 2026 · State Senate · 38th District · Energy · Prisons