# Karen Whitsett

Karen Whitsett is a Democratic member of the Michigan House for district 4.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Michigan House, district 4
- Serving since: 2023-01-01
- Current term: MI 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/1b71cbce-bf12-4009-b1cd-79da2f22b9aa

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/1b71cbce-bf12-4009-b1cd-79da2f22b9aa (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

3.8% of Whitsett’s statements discuss policy, in the bottom 5% of State House Democrats (average 39%).

## What Whitsett says (MI 2025–26 session)

288 classified statements: 288 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Democrats average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Whitsett | State House Democrats average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 5.2% | 2.5% | 135 of 764 |
| Policy criticism | 0.7% | 10.4% | 657 of 764 |
| Policy discussion | 3.8% | 39.2% | 736 of 764 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.7% | 2.9% | 551 of 764 |
| Credit claiming | 1.0% | 14.4% | 678 of 764 |
| Extreme labels | 0.7% | 1.0% | 231 of 764 |

Most discussed policy areas: Health 45% (State House Democrats 15%); Government Operations and Politics 18% (State House Democrats 15%); Commerce 9.1% (State House Democrats 3.1%); Crime and Law Enforcement 9.1% (State House Democrats 8.0%); Energy 9.1% (State House Democrats 3.6%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.24 (standard error 0.01), from 160 donors and 768 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 95% of State House Democrats score lower.

## Votes (MI 2025–26 session)

58 roll calls. Attendance 100% (Michigan House 99.9%). Party unity 0% (93.2%). 36 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2025-08-26 · voted yea · passed; given immediate effect Roll Call #181 Yeas 59 Nays 45 Excused 0 Not Voting 6 · HB 4706 Appropriations: omnibus; appropriations for multiple departments and branches for the fiscal year 2025-2026 and supplemental appropriations for fiscal… · pass · https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2025-2026/HB4706/
- 2025-08-21 · voted yea · passed; given immediate effect Roll Call #179 Yeas 99 Nays 1 Excused 0 Not Voting 10 · HB 4303 Holidays: other; Chaldean American Month; establish. Creates new act. · pass · https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2025-2026/HB4303/
- 2025-08-21 · voted yea · roll call Roll Call #180 Yeas 70 Nays 30 Excused 0 Not Voting 10 · HJR M Legislature: other; enactment of appropriation bills by a certain date; require. Amends sec. 31 of art. IV, sec. 18 of art. V & sec. 17 of art. IX of… · pass · https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2025-2026/HJRM/
- 2025-05-07 · voted yea · passed; given immediate effect Roll Call #91 Yeas 82 Nays 27 Excused 0 Not Voting 1 · HB 4007 Energy: alternative sources; clean energy system; expand definition of. Amends sec. 3 of 2008 PA 295 (MCL 460.1003). · pass · https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2025-2026/HB4007/
- 2025-05-07 · voted yea · passed; given immediate effect Roll Call #92 Yeas 83 Nays 26 Excused 0 Not Voting 1 · HB 4283 Energy: alternative sources; electricity generated from RICE generators; authorize use of to meet renewable and clean energy standards. Amends secs.… · pass · https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2025-2026/HB4283/
- 2025-05-07 · voted yea · passed; given immediate effect Roll Call #94 Yeas 109 Nays 0 Excused 0 Not Voting 1 · HB 4072 Health: pharmaceuticals; allow patients to take unused portion of eye drops or eye ointments after certain procedures for continued patient care;… · pass · https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2025-2026/HB4072/
- 2025-05-06 · voted yea · passed; given immediate effect Roll Call #88 Yeas 71 Nays 39 Excused 0 Not Voting 0 · HB 4242 Health: electronic records; requirements for security and storage of electronic health records; provide for. Amends secs. 16213 & 20175a of 1978 PA… · pass · https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2025-2026/HB4242/
- 2025-05-06 · voted yea · passed; given immediate effect Roll Call #85 Yeas 79 Nays 31 Excused 0 Not Voting 0 · HB 4235 Public employees and officers: state; use of certain applications on state devices; prohibit. Creates new act. · pass · https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2025-2026/HB4235/
- 2025-05-06 · voted yea · passed; given immediate effect Roll Call #87 Yeas 66 Nays 44 Excused 0 Not Voting 0 · HB 4241 Economic development: other; economic incentives to certain foreign countries; prohibit. Amends 1984 PA 270 (MCL 125.2001 - 125.2094) by adding sec. 7c. · pass · https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2025-2026/HB4241/
- 2025-05-06 · voted yea · passed; given immediate effect Roll Call #90 Yeas 110 Nays 0 Excused 0 Not Voting 0 · HB 4345 School aid: penalties; exception to minimum days of pupil instruction requirement for district closure during a declared state of emergency; provide… · pass · https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2025-2026/HB4345/

## Legislation (MI 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 1 bills: 1 reached committee, 0 passed one chamber, 0 passed both, 0 became law. Cosponsored 12.

Recent sponsored bills:

- HB 4867: Children: health; referral of certain children with elevated blood lead levels to the early on program administered by the department of lifelong education,… (in committee, 2025-09-16) https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2025-2026/HB4867/
- HB 6249: Public employees and officers: ethics; tickets to certain charity events; exclude from definition of gift. Amends sec. 4 of 1978 PA 472 (MCL 4.414). (in committee, 2024-12-10) https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2023-2024/HB6249/
- HB 6234: Tobacco: other; reference to 1915 PA 31 in the age of majority act of 1971; revise. Amends secs. 2 & 3 of 1971 PA 79 (MCL 722.52 & 722.53). (in committee, 2024-12-05) https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2023-2024/HB6234/
- HB 5827: Employment security: benefits; weekly dependent care amount and benefit period; increase. Amends sec. 27 of 1936 (Ex Sess) PA 1 (MCL 421.27). (passed both chambers, 2024-12-31) https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2023-2024/HB5827/
- HB 5369: Children: health; automatic qualification for children's special health care services for certain children affected by lead exposure; require. Amends secs.… (passed both chambers, 2024-12-18) https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2023-2024/HB5369/
- HB 4967: Property tax: exemptions; exemption of certain property located in land equity cities under certain circumstances; provide for. Amends secs. 2, 78a & 89b of… (in committee, 2023-10-04) https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2023-2024/HB4967/
- HB 4834: Health facilities: certificate of need; cone-beam tomography equipment; eliminate from definition of a covered clinical service under certain circumstances.… (in committee, 2023-06-27) https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2023-2024/HB4834/
- HB 4774: Property: personal; act allowing ownership of certain personal property as tenancy by the entireties; revise gender-specific language. Amends title & sec. 1… (in committee, 2023-06-20) https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2023-2024/HB4774/
- HB 4568: Elections: offenses; prohibition on the hiring of transportation assistance to the polls; eliminate. Amends sec. 931 of 1954 PA 116 (MCL 168.931). (became law, 2023-11-08) https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2023-2024/HB4568/
- HB 4486: Torts: governmental immunity; governmental agency and employee liability for criminal sexual conduct; allow. Amends sec. 7 of 1964 PA 170 (MCL 691.1407) &… (passed one chamber, 2024-07-30) https://openstates.org/mi/bills/2023-2024/HB4486/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $37.1K (State House Democrats median $40.4K). 90% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/KarenWhitsett4/status/2112716496749129949
- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · labels: policy criticism, policy discussion · https://x.com/KarenWhitsett4/status/2112728352561775066
- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · https://x.com/KarenWhitsett4/status/2112732117327388920
- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · https://x.com/KarenWhitsett4/status/2112744002453901696
- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · https://x.com/KarenWhitsett4/status/2112745591469924838
- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · https://x.com/KarenWhitsett4/status/2112940819355164723
- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · https://x.com/KarenWhitsett4/status/2112987314079285452
- 2026-10-16 · Post on X · https://x.com/KarenWhitsett4/status/2111157677103493399
- 2026-10-12 · Post on X · https://x.com/KarenWhitsett4/status/2109439993337000130
- 2026-10-12 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/KarenWhitsett4/status/2109785875299143803

## Links

- Official site: https://housedems.com/karen-whitsett/
- Campaign site: https://www.karenwhitsett.com/
- X: https://x.com/KarenWhitsett4
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/repkarenwhitsett/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-whitsett-135609219/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/1b71cbce-bf12-4009-b1cd-79da2f22b9aa