LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called a special election Friday for a state Senate seat that has been vacant for nearly nine months, setting up a contest that could let Republicans hobble Whitmer’s agenda in the Democrat’s final year in office .

The 35th Senate District has been unrepresented in the Legislature all year after its former lawmaker, Democrat Kristen McDonald Rivet , was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November. Democrats now hold a slim 19-18 majority in the chamber, and a GOP victory could give Republicans the ability to block Democratic policy in Whitmer's last months as governor, since she is term limited and cannot run again.

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