Livonia candidates for local and state office: Where they stand on your priorities

On Nov. 3, Livonia voters will choose representatives for the state Senate, state House and Wayne County Commission — offices that help shape decisions on property taxes, road funding, school support and development policy. The ballot will not include a mayoral or City Council race.

City Council seats were last on the ballot Nov. 4, 2025. Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan, elected in 2019 and reelected in 2023, and the current council remain responsible for immediate city decisions on development, contracts and services. Kayleigh Kavanagh Reid serves as Council President after leading the Nov. 4, 2025, field with 11,827 votes.

For the candidates on the 2026 ballot, the test is whether they can say specifically what they would fund, cut, change or require when Livonia needs more revenue, stronger services or tougher oversight.

Redistricting placed Livonia in Michigan Senate District 8 beginning with the Aug. 4 state primary. The city is split among three state House districts: District 16 in southern Livonia, District 17 in northern Livonia and District 22 in western Livonia. Wayne County Commission District 12, covering Livonia and Westland, also will be elected Nov. 3.

Livonia voters have already shown they will pay for services they consider essential. In the Aug. 4 primary, they approved a 10-year renewal of the 1.7-mill public-safety operating millage with 72.5% support, estimated to generate about $9.9 million annually beginning in December. They also approved a 10-year renewal of the 0.25-mill cultural and senior-services millage with 71.5% support, estimated to generate $1.5 million annually.

Those votes answered two local funding questions. They did not settle the larger state and county debate: raise revenue, cut taxes, redirect existing money or accept fewer services.

In the Senate District 8 race, Democrat Dayna Polehanki centers her platform on education, the economy, the environment, health care and safety, including stronger wages and benefits for working families, but does not identify revenue sources or budget offsets for those priorities.

Republican Kenneth D. Massey stresses balanced budgets, fiscal responsibility and strong bond ratings, drawing on decades in biotech and venture development, but does not identify the spending cuts or revenue trade-offs he would support.

The sharpest fiscal contrast is in House District 17, covering northern Livonia. Democratic incumbent Laurie Pohutsky proposes raising road revenue through higher overweight-trucking fees and by closing corporate tax loopholes.

Development presents a more immediate test. June actions included waiver-use approvals for a banquet and event facility on Six Mile Road and steps to vacate water-main and scenic easements on Seven Mile Road. City Council also directed that data centers be treated as a special use requiring council waivers.

Commercial growth can add jobs and tax base, but it can also bring traffic, infrastructure demands and pressure on residential areas.

Roads reveal a similar divide. Most candidates agree roads need work; the harder question is who pays.

State legislative races have the most direct connection to school aid, teacher policy and labor law. Livonia Public Schools received $750,000 in legislatively directed funding for its Thrive Track – Healthy Living Skills for Independence program under Section 99(21), according to the Michigan Department of Education's June 15, 2026, report on designated spending items.

Polehanki is the incumbent state senator for District 8 and chaired the Senate Education Committee in 2026. In 2023, she sponsored SB 500 to create a free school lunch and breakfast program, which received a favorable committee report. She also sponsored SB 567 and SB 568 with Sen. Jeff Irwin as part of Michigan's 2024 education package on Science of Reading strategies and dyslexia supports. In 2026, she sponsored SB 989, expanding interim teaching-certification pathways for future special-education teachers; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the measure into law. Her 2026 platform calls for early-literacy improvements, student safety and mental-health support, teacher pay and school funding.

The Michigan House passed HB 5630, the fiscal year 2026-27 school-aid omnibus covering K-12 aid, higher education and community colleges, by a 99-8 vote. Pohutsky voted yes. Her platform supports stronger public schools and competitive teacher salaries. Young calls for increased public-school funding, certified teachers, early learning, child care, special-needs resources and workforce pathways. Koleszar emphasizes public-education funding and school support.

Labor policy offers another measure of whether campaign branding matches a candidate's record. Pohutsky has received endorsements from AFL-CIO Michigan, AFSCME Council 25, Michigan Education Association PAC, United Auto Workers and the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights, and she sponsored HB 5180 on workers' compensation. Yet the conservative Turning Point Action scorecard lists Pohutsky as voting no on HB 4002, the Michigan Earned Sick Time Expansion Act, and no on SB 8, which raised the state minimum wage.

Koleszar's platform includes working-family and labor support, including union rights. Young supports good-paying jobs and small-business growth as part of her Thriving Communities agenda.

Transparency is a familiar campaign promise — and where the gap between rhetoric and enforceable commitments is easiest to see.

Anderson has served as Wayne County commissioner for District 12 since 2016 and won reelection in 2022 and 2024.

For voters, the key distinction is not which candidates say they favor good schools, safe roads, lower taxes or transparent government — most do. The question is whether they identify the revenue tools, legislation or oversight rules that would force a choice between competing interests and explain who pays when those priorities collide.

Michigan's general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. Livonia's November ballot includes the District 8 Senate contest between Polehanki and Massey, House contests that depend on a voter's address, and the District 12 county commission race between Anderson and Backus.

Voters can check Michigan's voter information center and Livonia's ballot lookup tool for a personalized sample ballot because precinct and district lines determine which contests appear at each address.