Republican and Democratic legislative leadership gave positive reviews after meeting with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Wednesday, indicating that at least initially, the group is on good terms.

All four caucus leaders in the legislature and Whitmer met Wednesday morning for the first “quadrant” meeting of the new session, which House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, characterized as “productive.”

“It was productive dialogue and something I that think is necessary if we’re going to establish good relationships throughout this process,” he said. “Divided government certainly provides challenges, but I think it also provides an equal amount of opportunity.”

The dynamic in the Capitol will be different this year after the November 2018 elections resulted in an entirely Democratic administration. Both chambers of the legislature retained a Republican majority, although Democrats made gains in both chambers.

Legislative leaders kicked off the session on a generally bipartisan note, naming civil asset forfeiture and transparency legislation as top priorities in the House and changing the state’s auto no-fault system in the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, said that tone extended to the quadrant meeting: “People came in pretty open and with a desire to try to find ways to work together."

The legislative leaders discussed everyone’s top priorities and “explored where we might get some early wins for Michigan,” said Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, adding that he was “very satisfied with the results.”

House Democratic Leader Christine Greig, D-Farmington Hills, said it was likely future quadrant meetings would be a regular occurrence.

“We all came to the table and talked about how we need to have open communication and work together,” she said.