Karen Whitsett

Karen Whitsett

Democratic Party

Candidate, Detroit City Council District 7

Michigan House of Representatives District 4

Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

2

Predecessor

Abraham Aiyash

Prior offices

Michigan House of Representatives District 9

Successor: Abraham Aiyash

Predecessor: Sylvia Santana

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Compensation

Base salary

$71,685/year

Per diem

No per diem is paid. Legislators receive an expense allowance of $10,800/year for session and interim.

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Next election

November 4, 2025

Education

High school

Cody High School

Personal

Birthplace

Detroit, Mich.

Profession

Community organizer

Contact

Official website

Official Instagram

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Karen Whitsett (Democratic Party) is a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing District 4. She assumed office on January 1, 2023. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Whitsett is running for election to the Detroit City Council to represent District 7 in Michigan. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025. She advanced from the primary on August 5, 2025.

Biography

Karen Whitsett was born and lives in Detroit, Michigan. Whitsett graduated from Cody High School. Her career experience includes working as a community organizer.

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Whitsett was assigned to the following committees:

• Tax Policy Committee (decommissioned)
• Economic and Small Business Development Committee
• Health Policy Committee, Majority Vice Chair
• Communications and Technology Committee

2021-2022

Whitsett was assigned to the following committees:

• Elections and Ethics Committee
• Health Policy Committee
• Commerce and Tourism Committee (decommissioned)

2019-2020

Whitsett was assigned to the following committees:

• Financial Services Committee
• Tax Policy Committee (decommissioned)

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2025

See also: City elections in Detroit, Michigan (2025)

General election

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

General election for Detroit City Council District 7

Denzel McCampbell and Karen Whitsett are running in the general election for Detroit City Council District 7 on November 4, 2025.

		Candidate
		Denzel McCampbell (Nonpartisan)
		Karen Whitsett (Nonpartisan)

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Detroit City Council District 7

Denzel McCampbell and Karen Whitsett defeated Regina Ross, Bobbi Johnson, and Dustin Campbell in the primary for Detroit City Council District 7 on August 5, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Denzel McCampbell (Nonpartisan)	34.2	3,403
✔		Karen Whitsett (Nonpartisan)	33.6	3,344
		Regina Ross (Nonpartisan)	24.8	2,472
	Submit photo	Bobbi Johnson (Nonpartisan)	6.4	638
	Submit photo	Dustin Campbell (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.3	28
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	72

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 9,957
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Clinton Topp (Nonpartisan)
• Jacqueline Dunlap (Nonpartisan)

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2024

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 4

Incumbent Karen Whitsett won election in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 4 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Whitsett (D)	100.0	33,026

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 33,026
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 4

Incumbent Karen Whitsett advanced from the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 4 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Whitsett	100.0	9,370

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,370
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Gus H. Tarraf (D)

Republican primary election

No Republican candidates ran in the primary.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Tonya Wells (R)

Endorsements

Whitsett received the following endorsements.

• Michigan League of Conservation Voters

2022

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 4

Incumbent Karen Whitsett defeated Tonya Wells in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 4 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Whitsett (D)	87.1	16,990
	Submit photo	Tonya Wells (R)	12.9	2,520

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 19,510
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 4

Incumbent Karen Whitsett defeated Lori L. Turner and Gus H. Tarraf in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 4 on August 2, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Whitsett	55.2	3,857
	Submit photo	Lori L. Turner	26.9	1,879
	Submit photo	Gus H. Tarraf	17.9	1,254

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,990
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Ali Alammari (D)
• Adam Y. Abusalah (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 4

Tonya Wells advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 4 on August 2, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Tonya Wells	100.0	355

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 355
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 9

Incumbent Karen Whitsett defeated James Stephens in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 9 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Whitsett (D)	94.2	29,047
	Submit photo	James Stephens (R)	5.8	1,794

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 30,841
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 9

Incumbent Karen Whitsett defeated Roslyn Ogburn, Marc Cummings, and Nicole Elcock in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 9 on August 4, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Whitsett	44.7	4,996
		Roslyn Ogburn	30.7	3,437
	Submit photo	Marc Cummings	18.2	2,032
	Submit photo	Nicole Elcock	6.4	717

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 11,182
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 9

James Stephens advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 9 on August 4, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	James Stephens	100.0	309

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 309
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

• LEAP Forward

2018

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

Karen Whitsett defeated James Stephens in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 9 on November 6, 2018.

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 9

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Whitsett (D)	95.1	20,783
	Submit photo	James Stephens (R)	4.9	1,065

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 21,848
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Karen Whitsett defeated Gary Pollard and Donald Stuckey II in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 9 on August 7, 2018.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 9

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Whitsett	56.4	5,000
		Gary Pollard	34.6	3,069
	Submit photo	Donald Stuckey II	8.9	791

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,860
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

James Stephens advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 9 on August 7, 2018.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 9

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	James Stephens	100.0	257

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 257
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Karen Whitsett has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Karen Whitsett asking her to fill out the survey. If you are Karen Whitsett, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for.  More than 23,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.

You can ask Karen Whitsett to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing karenwhitsett4staterep@gmail.com.

2024

Karen Whitsett did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Karen Whitsett did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Karen Whitsett did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2018

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Karen Whitsett completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Whitsett's responses.

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

Auto insurance reform Improving public education in urban communities Protect vital senior citizen services

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Help entrepreneurs secure resources to develop and improve our community

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

The late and great State Senator Burton Leland

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Burton Leland

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Karen Whitsett campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Michigan House of Representatives District 4	Won general	$91,818	$0
2022	Michigan House of Representatives District 4	Won general	$78,459	$0
2020	Michigan House of Representatives District 9	Won general	$37,056	N/A**
2018	Michigan House of Representatives District 9	Won general	$41,967	N/A**
Grand total			$249,300	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Michigan

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Michigan scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show].

In 2024, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 10 to December 23. Michigan AFL-CIO Legislators are scored on labor issues. Michigan Chamber Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. Michigan Farm Bureau Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to agriculture. Michigan League of Conservation Voters Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].
In 2023, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 11 to November 14. Michigan AFL-CIO Advocates Legislators are scored on labor issues. Michigan League of Conservation Voters Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].

In 2022, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 12 to December 28. Clean Water Action & Sierra Club Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues. Michigan AFL-CIO Legislators are scored on labor issues. Michigan Chamber Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. Michigan Farm Bureau Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to agriculture. Michigan League of Conservation Voters Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues. MIRS: Senate and House Legislators are scored on a number of bills selected by the editor of MIRS, a state capitol newsletter. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].

In 2021, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 13 to December 31. Clean Water Action & Sierra Club Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues. Michigan AFL-CIO Legislators are scored on labor issues. Michigan Farm Bureau Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to agriculture. Michigan League of Conservation Voters Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues. MIRS: Senate and House Legislators are scored on a number of bills selected by the editor of MIRS, a state capitol newsletter. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2020

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show].

In 2020, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 8 to December 31. Clean Water Action & Sierra Club Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues. Michigan AFL-CIO Legislators are scored on labor issues. Michigan Farm Bureau Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to agriculture. Michigan League of Conservation Voters Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2019

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show].

In 2019, the Michigan State Legislature was in session from January 9 through December 31. Clean Water Action & Sierra Club Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues. Michigan AFL-CIO Legislators are scored on labor issues. Michigan Farm Bureau Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to agriculture. Michigan League of Conservation Voters Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

See also

2025 Elections

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Officeholder

Michigan House of Representatives District 4

Website

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Personal

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Abraham Aiyash (D)	Michigan House of Representatives District 4 2023-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by Sylvia Santana (D)	Michigan House of Representatives District 9 2019-2023	Succeeded by Abraham Aiyash (D)

[show]

Current members of the Michigan House of Representatives

Leadership

Speaker of the House:Matt Hall

Minority Leader:Ranjeev Puri

Representatives

District 1

Tyrone Carter (D)

District 2

Tullio Liberati (D)

District 3

Alabas Farhat (D)

District 4

Karen Whitsett (D)

District 5

Regina Weiss (D)

District 6

Natalie Price (D)

District 7

Tonya Myers Phillips (D)

District 8

Helena Scott (D)

District 9

Joseph Tate (D)

District 10

Veronica Paiz (D)

District 11

Donavan McKinney (D)

District 12

Kimberly Edwards (D)

District 13

Mai Xiong (D)

District 14

Mike McFall (D)

District 15

Erin Byrnes (D)

District 16

Stephanie Young (D)

District 17

Laurie Pohutsky (D)

District 18

Jason Hoskins (D)

District 19

Samantha Steckloff (D)

District 20

Noah Arbit (D)

District 21

Kelly Breen (D)

District 22

Matt Koleszar (D)

District 23

Jason Morgan (D)

District 24

Ranjeev Puri (D)

District 25

Peter Herzberg (D)

District 26

Dylan Wegela (D)

District 27

Rylee Linting (R)

District 28

Jamie Thompson (R)

District 29

James DeSana (R)

District 30

William Bruck (R)

District 31

Reggie Miller (D)

District 32

Jimmie Wilson (D)

District 33

Morgan Foreman (D)

District 34

Nancy Jenkins-Arno (R)

District 35

Jennifer Wortz (R)

District 36

Steve Carra (R)

District 37

Brad Paquette (R)

District 38

Joey Andrews (D)

District 39

Pauline Wendzel (R)

District 40

Matt Longjohn (D)

District 41

Julie Rogers (D)

District 42

Matt Hall (R)

District 43

Rachelle Smit (R)

District 44

Steve Frisbie (R)

District 45

Sarah Lightner (R)

District 46

Kathy Schmaltz (R)

District 47

Carrie Rheingans (D)

District 48

Jennifer Conlin (D)

District 49

Ann Bollin (R)

District 50

Jason Woolford (R)

District 51

Matt Maddock (R)

District 52

Mike Harris (R)

District 53

Brenda Carter (D)

District 54

Donni Steele (R)

District 55

Mark Tisdel (R)

District 56

Sharon MacDonell (D)

District 57

Thomas Kuhn (R)

District 58

Ron Robinson (R)

District 59

Douglas Wozniak (R)

District 60

Joseph Aragona (R)

District 61

Denise Mentzer (D)

District 62

Alicia St. Germaine (R)

District 63

Jay DeBoyer (R)

District 64

Joseph Pavlov (R)

District 65

Jaime Greene (R)

District 66

Josh Schriver (R)

District 67

Phil Green (R)

District 68

David Martin (R)

District 69

Jasper Martus (D)

District 70

Cynthia Neeley (D)

District 71

Brian BeGole (R)

District 72

Mike Mueller (R)

District 73

Julie Brixie (D)

District 74

Kara Hope (D)

District 75

Penelope Tsernoglou (D)

District 76

Angela Witwer (D)

District 77

Emily Dievendorf (D)

District 78

Gina Johnsen (R)

District 79

Angela Rigas (R)

District 80

Phil Skaggs (D)

District 81

Stephen Wooden (D)

District 82

Kristian Grant (D)

District 83

John Fitzgerald (D)

District 84

Carol Glanville (D)

District 85

Bradley Slagh (R)

District 86

Nancy De Boer (R)

District 87

William Snyder (D)

District 88

Greg VanWoerkom (R)

District 89

Luke Meerman (R)

District 90

Bryan Posthumus (R)

District 91

Pat Outman (R)

District 92

Jerry Neyer (R)

District 93

Tim Kelly (R)

District 94

Amos O'Neal (D)

District 95

Bill Schuette (R)

District 96

Timothy Beson (R)

District 97

Matthew Bierlein (R)

District 98

Gregory Alexander (R)

District 99

Mike Hoadley (R)

District 100

Tom Kunse (R)

District 101

Joseph Fox (R)

District 102

Curt VanderWall (R)

District 103

Betsy Coffia (D)

District 104

John Roth (R)

District 105

Ken Borton (R)

District 106

Cameron Cavitt (R)

District 107

Parker Fairbairn (R)

District 108

David Prestin (R)

District 109

Karl Bohnak (R)

District 110

Gregory Markkanen (R)

Republican Party (58)

Democratic Party (52)