LANSING – Aside from businesswoman Denise Ilitch, who retained her seat on the University of Michigan Board of Regents, Democratic candidates for the boards of Michigan’s top three universities faced surprising losses, extending also to the State Board of Education, which oversees K-12 schooling.

In Tuesday’s elections, partisan races were held for two seats each on the boards of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University, as well as two open seats on the State Board of Education.

Each of these boards comprises eight members, directly elected by voters statewide for eight-year terms. A strong Republican wave, bolstered by former President Trump, led to the election of seven Republican candidates out of the eight available seats, with the results as follows:

University of Michigan: In the race for the two seats on the Board of Regents, Republican candidate Carl Meyers led the race with more than 2.5 million votes. Incumbent Democrat Denise Ilitch successfully retained her seat, finishing second with a total of 2.43 million votes.

Democratic former board member Shauna Ryder Diggs, who the party favored over Arab American candidate Huwaida Arraf during a nomination process at last summer’s convention, was the highest-polling unsuccessful candidate, securing 2.27 million votes. Republican businessman Sevag Vartanian came in fourth with around 2.2 million votes.

As a result, Democrats maintain a 6-2 majority on the board at the Ann Arbor-based university, with Meyers — a financial advisor from Dearborn — replacing outgoing Republican Regent Ron Weiser, former Michigan GOP chairman. Weiser was not renominated by the party during last summer’s convention.

Michigan State University: In the race for two seats on the Michigan State University Board of Trustees in East Lansing, Republican candidates Mike Balow, a real estate advisor, and Julie Maday, a former Novi City Council member, won with 2.42 million and 2.35 million votes, respectively. Democratic candidates Rebecca Bahar-Cook, a former Ingham County commissioner, and former State Representative Thomas Stallworth III of Detroit placed third and fourth, respectively.

Cook’s loss, by a narrow margin of around 2,000 votes, reduces the Democratic majority on the Michigan State University Board from 7-1 to 6-2. One of the two seats currently held by Republicans is occupied by Dan Kelly, whom the GOP declined to renominate.

Wayne State University: The race for two seats on the Wayne State University Board of Governors in Detroit ended with Republican candidates Michael Busuito, an incumbent board member, and businessman Sunny Reddy winning with 2.37 million and 2.29 million votes, respectively. They defeated Democratic candidates Mark Gaffney, the current board member, and Arab American pharmacist Rasha Demashkieh, who finished fourth with around 2.22 million votes.

With this outcome, the Democratic majority on the Wayne State University Board was reduced from 6-2 to 5-3.

State Board of Education: Republican members Nikki Snyder and Tom McMillin, the only Republicans currently serving on the state’s Board of Education overseeing K-12 education, retained their seats, receiving 2.37 million and 2.34 million votes, respectively.

Snyder and McMillin outperformed Democratic candidates Adam Zemke, a former state representative, and Theodore Jones, a former Detroit Public Schools administrator. This result preserves the current balance on the board, which remains composed of eight members with a 6-2 Democratic majority.