Republican House leader Matt Hall claims victory in HD-42 race

— Republican House leader Matt Hall will return to Lansing to continue to represent Michigan's 42nd House district.

With 88% of the vote tallied between Allegan and Kalamazoo counties, Hall has secured 57.4% of the vote, compared to 42.6% garnered by Democrat Austin Marsman. The AP has called the race.

The Republican House leader has picked up 29,928 votes to Marsman's 22,217, according to unofficial results. Hall will now serve his fourth two-year term in the Michigan Legislature.

Hall, of Richland Township, defeated fellow Republican Rich Cutshaw in the August primary to set up the race with Marsman. The Allegan County Democrat did not face any opposition in the August primary.

Hall, has spent the past six years in the Michigan House of Representatives. He served two terms as the representative in House District 63, prior to statewide redistricting in 2022. He was then elected to represent House District 42 after defeating Democrat Justin Mendoza by 10 percentage points.

HD-42 includes parts of Kalamazoo and Oshtemo Township and the cities of Galesburg and Parchment. The district also includes the Kalamazoo County townships of Alamo, Brady, Comstock, Cooper, Pavilion, Prairie Ronde, Richland, Ross and Schoolcraft, as well as parts of Allegan County — including the cities of Otsego and Plainwell, as well Gun Plain Township and part of Otsego Township.

Marsman, a lifelong West Michigan resident, is the former youth vice chair of the Michigan Democratic Party and a former trustee on the Martin Public Schools Board of Education. He currently chairs the Allegan County Broadband Action Workgroup.

Hall said in a League of Women Voters survey prior to the election, that he is focused on controlling what he calls "out-of-control government spending."

He said Michigan needs to also urgently needs to address skyrocketing energy prices, ensure electric grid reliability and unleash American natural gas production. The state needs to fix its broken local roads and bridges, strengthen public safety, improve schools and reverse the 2024 income tax hike, he said.

Hall is a graduate of Western Michigan University's Haworth College of Business. He earned his Juris Doctor from WMU-Cooley Law School and is a constitutional law attorney.