The 26th district was created by the 1850 Michigan Constitution, as the 1835 constitution only permitted a maximum of eight senate districts.

District 26 encompasses parts of Genesee, Lapeer, Saginaw, and Tuscola counties.

[4] District 26, as dictated by the 2011 Apportionment Plan, stretched along the Lake Michigan coast in Allegan and Van Buren Counties and parts of Kent County.

Communities within the district included Kentwood, South Haven, Hartford, Paw Paw, Allegan, Otsego, Plainwell, Wayland, Antwerp Township, Gaines Township, and southern Holland.

It overlapped with the 66th, 72nd, and 80th districts of the Michigan House of Representatives.