Measuring the Electeds

two legislators in tough positions - one fails, one succeeds

Who are Michigan’s most effective leaders, and how do they lead? Leading a majority party position is easy, so let’s instead compare minority party members. We describe, below, how two legislators earned their ranks as most effective and least effective, and we look at two issues they fought for, despite knowing they’d lose. When all is said and done, it appears the “secret sauce” of leadership in Lansing might be, simply, a willingness to get along with other people.

Michigan’s current legislature is historically unproductive, yet certain leaders - even in the minority - manage to pass legislation. The most effective minority party Representative is Kelly Breen of Novi. Breen co-sponsored eight laws. The least effective legislator in either chamber is Senator Thomas Albert of Lowell. The 35th senate district seat is empty; we owe an explanation on how we rate Albert worse than an empty chair.

Minority party members are often relegated to co-sponsoring majority party bills, or passing resolutions like a highway memorial or a special calendar day. Albert accomplished none of that. Neither did the empty chair. Albert, however, consumed senate resources in such a remarkable quantity that we rate him as the less effective of the two. For example, he alone was responsible for up to 75% of the Senate’s deliberation during the contentious school funding debate. It appears he recorded more statements than the rest of the senate combined. He offered more than two dozen amendments, many quite lengthy, several of which he immediately withdrew, and none that passed. Curiously, he re-introduced certain language to fail a second time… and again, a third time:

Regardless of Albert’s intent, we should question the utility of governmental regulation of sperm production among school age boys and how future litigation might proceed in an open court. Politically, it is startling optics for Albert, a Republican, to focus on sexuality below the age of consent during a news cycle dominated by serial child rapist Jeffrey Epstein. Given this context it is perhaps less surprising that Albert’s legislation rarely earns any co-sponsors… even from within his own party.

Albert’s lack of teamwork stands in stark contrast to the leadership style of Breen. Breen, too, brought back previously failed legislation (see “Xylazine” in the link). Unlike Albert, however, she also reached out to a member from across the aisle, Mike Mueller of Linden, to sponsor the second half of a bill package. Breen and Mueller each gathered an overwhelming and bipartisan list of co-sponsors. Breen’s bill even had a voting majority.

Senator Albert goes it alone; he accomplished nothing. Breen builds relationships; she is the most successful minority party Representative. We’ve shown before that in our republic, Breen’s style is more effective (see pg 6 in the link).

Yet Breen is not the most “connected” legislator! For more relationship details, take a look at our interactive relationship models of the Senate and House. For more performance metrics on the chambers and parties, see our interim report.

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2026 January 23