Major Michigan Elections Coming This August, November

Contested Races for Governor, Michigan Senate, Michigan House, and Michigan Supreme Court on Tap for 2026

As you know, 2026 is an election year, and even though there is no Presidential election this year, it’s still shaping up to be a monumental year in our state. Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist, II, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Attorney General Dana Nessel are all term limited, each having served two terms in their respective offices. In November, Michigan voters will decide races for:

Governor Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General
All 38 seats in the Michigan Senate
All 110 seats in the Michigan House of Representatives
Two seats on the Michigan Supreme Court

In this article, we will take a look at these important elections. Legislative Republican and Democratic primary elections will be held on Tuesday, August 4^th, and the 2026 General Election will be on Tuesday, November 3^rd.

Michigan Governor: A Close, Three-Way Race

With incumbent Governor Whitmer and Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist unable to run for re-election due to term limits, the race for the governor’s office is wide open. Republicans and Democrats will hold primary elections in August, but the candidacy of former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who left the Democratic Party to run as an independent, will make it a three-way race, which could complicate things in the general election this November.

On the Democratic side, Secretary of State Benson seems to be the front-runner, with Lt. Governor Gilchrist dropping his gubernatorial bid to run for Secretary of State. Her only opposition at this point is Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson.

The Republican side is much more crowded, with the frontrunner appearing to be current Congressman John James. Additional current Republican candidates include:

Mike Cox, former Michigan Attorney General
Anthony Hudson, former congressional candidate
Perry Johnson, businessman who ran for governor in 2022 and president in 2024
Tom Leonard, former Michigan Speaker of the House
State Senator Aric Nesbitt, current Speaker Minority Leader

Much of who wins the primary in August could depend on one major question: Will President Trump make an endorsement in the race? Also, will anyone else, such as 2022 gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon or former candidate Kevin Rinke, get into the race.

Attorney General and Secretary of State

Republican and Democratic nominees for these offices will be chosen by the parties at nominating conventions later this year, rather than by primary elections. Current Democratic candidates include Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney Karen McDonald, Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney Eli Savit, and public defender William Nokes. Republican candidates include the GOP nominee for AG in 2022, Matt DePerno, Eaton County Prosecuting Attorney Doug Lloyd, and defense attorney Kevin Kijewski.

In the race to be the next Secretary of State, several major Democratic candidates have declared their intention to run, including Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist, II, and former Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli.

Republican candidates include Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini, Clarkston Community Schools Trustee Amanda Lobve, and Monica Yatooma, business owner and Oakland County Republican Party executive board member.

The Republican endorsement convention is scheduled for March 28^th. The Democratic endorsement convention is April 19^th.

Michigan Senate

All 38 seats in the Michigan Senate are up for re-election in 2026. In 2022, Senate Democrats re-took the majority for the first time since the early 1980s, by a slim, 20-18 margin. They currently control the chamber 19-18, after the resignation of Kristen McDonald Rivet, who was elected to Congress in 2024.

This will be the first election to feature the new districts re-drawn after a federal civil rights lawsuit. A three-judge panel approved the new map, which specifically alters 14 districts in the Metro Detroit area to correct for racial gerrymandering. The revisions address districts where the Black voting age population was diluted, ensuring compliance with the Voting Rights Act. The impacted districts are:

District 1: Located in Wayne County, including parts of Detroit, Ecorse, Lincoln Park, River Rouge, and Wyandotte.
District 2: Located in Wayne County, including Allen Park, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, parts of Detroit, Melvindale, and parts of Taylor
District 3: Located in Wayne County, including parts of Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park
District 4: Located in Wayne County, including Belleville, Flat Rock, Gibraltar, Huron Township, Riverview, Rockwood, Romulus, Southgate, Sumpter Township, parts of Taylor, Trenton, Van Buren Township, Wayne, parts of Westland, and Woodhaven
District 5: Located in Wayne County, including Canton, Garden City, Inkster, Plymouth, Plymouth Township, and parts of Westland
District 6: Located in Wayne County, including parts of Detroit and Redford Township
District 7: Located in Oakland County, including Auburn Hills, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township, Lake Angelus, Lathrup Village, Pontiac, Southfield, Southfield Township, and parts of Waterford
District 8: Located in Oakland and Wayne counties, including Farmington, Farmington Hills, Livonia, Northville, Northville Township, and the majority of Novi
District 9: Located in Oakland and Macomb counties, including Rochester, Rochester Hills, parts of Shelby Township, parts of Sterling Heights, Troy, and Utica
District 10: Located in Oakland and Macomb counties, including Berkley, Center Line, Clawson, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Huntington Woods, Madison Heights, Oak Park, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak, Royal Oak Township, and parts of Warren
District 11: Located in Macomb County, including parts of Clinton Township, Eastpointe, Fraser, Roseville, parts of Sterling Heights, and parts of Warren
District 13: Located in Oakland County, including Commerce Township, Keego Harbor, Lyon Township, Milford Township, parts of Novi, Orchard Lake Village, South Lyon, Sylvan Lake, Walled Lake, West Bloomfield Township, parts of Waterford Township, and Wixom
District 23: Located in Oakland County, including Addison Township, Almont Township, Atlas Township, Clarkston, Brandon Township, Dryden Township, Hadley Township, Highland Township, Independence Township, Metamora Township, Oakland Township, Orion Township, Oxford Township, Rose Township, and parts of Waterford Township
District 24: Located in Macomb County, including Bruce Township, parts of Clinton Township, Macomb Township, Ray Township, parts of Shelby Township, and Washington Township

The unfortunate fact of politics today is that most of these races will be over after the primary, and only a handful of true toss-up districts will decide control moving forward.

There will be lots of new faces in the Michigan Senate this January, as 21 current senators – more than half the chamber – are either term-limited or have announced that they will not be running for re-election. Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) and Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Township) are term-limited, so new leadership in both caucuses is also coming, no matter which party controls the chamber in 2027.

Special Election for the 35^th District

When McDonald Rivet resigned to take her place in Congress, Governor Whitmer waited almost a year to call a special election in this district, which includes a number of communities in Bay, Midland, and Saginaw counties, including the Tri-City area. The Primaries were held in early February, with Republican Jason Tunney, an attorney, and Democratic Saginaw Fire Department Captain Chedrick Greene winning their primaries. The General Election is May 5^th.

The 35^th District is one of the most competitive Senate districts in Michigan. If Greene wins in May, Senate Democrats return to their two-vote margin. If Tunney wins, the chamber would be tied, 19-19, with a divided power scenario, but with Democrats retaining control due to Lt. Governor Gilchrist’s ability to break a tie vote. But their already small margin would be gone, and many issues could need bipartisan consensus moving forward. Stay tuned!

Michigan House of Representatives

Like in the Michigan Senate, a handful of races will determine control of the chamber in 2027. In 2024, House Republicans regained control of the chamber after two-years of being the minority party. They currently hold a 58-52 majority.

In 2022, Michigan voters approved a new term limits law. The law allows lawmakers to serve a total of 12 years in any combination of House and Senate seats, as opposed to the previous limits, which restricted them to three two-year terms in the Michigan House and two, four-year terms in the Michigan Senate. Thanks to this new law, many state representatives who would have been term limited under the old law are eligible to run again under the 2022 law. However, 14 of these eligible state reps have announced they will be running for Michigan Senate (or Congress) in 2026. Democrats will need to flip four seats to win the chamber in 2026.

Among the districts that could ultimately decide control of the Michigan House next year are:

22^nd District: Currently represented by state Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth), who is running for Michigan Senate.
31^st District: Currently represented by state Rep. Reggie Miller (D-Van Buren Township), who had the second-closest winning margin in 2024, 1.28%. It is unclear at this time if Rep. Miller will run for a third term in 2026.
44^th District: Currently represented by state Rep. Steve Frisbie (R-Battle Creek), who won the district in 2024 by a mere 79 votes. His 2024 opponent, former state Rep. Jim Haadsma (D-Battle Creek) is back for a rematch.
54^th District: Currently represented by state Rep. Donni Steele (R-Orion), who is running for Michigan Senate.
61^st District: Currently represented by state Rep. Denise Mentzer (D-Mt. Clemens), who is running for re-election in 2026. She won the district by 1.44 points in 2024.
109^th District: The incumbent, state Rep. Karl Bohnak (R-Deerton) defeated a Democratic incumbent in 2024 by around 1,600 votes.

Michigan Supreme Court

This year, two seats on the Michigan Supreme Court are being contested. Candidates are nominated by political parties, but they are elected on the nonpartisan portion of the ballot.

The seats of Chief Justice Megan Cavanagh, a Democratic nominee who joined the Court in 2019, and Justice Noah Hood, who was nominated by Governor Whitmer to fill a vacant seat on the Michigan Supreme Court, in 2025. They are both expected to run for eight-year terms in 2026. As of this writing, there are no declared Republican candidates.

The makeup of the Michigan Supreme Court – currently 6-1 in favor of Democratic-nominated justices – is extremely important, especially when it comes to the rights of patients and providers in Michigan’s auto no-fault system, which is consistently under fire in the courts and the Michigan Legislature and could be even more so with the recent passage of auto no-fault “reform” legislation in 2019. The full effects of this legislation, much of which came into effect last year, have yet to be seen, and it is almost a certainty that at some point the Michigan Supreme Court will have to rule on at least parts of the new law.

The MAC, as a founding and Executive Committee member of CPAN, an organization devoted to protecting auto accident victims and their health care providers, will be watching the 2026 Supreme Court race very closely.

Get Involved in a Pro-Chiropractic Candidate’s Campaign TODAY!

A major part of our legislative strategy depends on chiropractors across the state establishing and maintaining relationships with their sitting lawmakers and candidates who support chiropractic. One of the best ways to establish such a relationship is to get involved in their campaign. Here are a few ways you can get involved:

Donate money to the campaign
Go “door-to-door”
Work a campaign “phone bank”
Host a fundraiser
Do some office work
Put up a yard sign (at your home and office) or bumper sticker
Cultivate a relationship with staff

After the Campaign

Your relationship with a candidate must not end when the campaign is over. After establishing a relationship with a candidate or sitting legislator, you can be an invaluable resource to them. Who better to advise a lawmaker on a health care issue than a health care practitioner from their district? You are well equipped to provide specific examples of how patients and other chiropractors will be affected by proposed legislative action. Contact the MAC office for talking points on the chiropractic view of pending legislation.

Let Us Know!

If you do work on or have a relationship with a candidate or sitting lawmaker, be sure to let us know! Your contact could be a key factor in moving our aggressive, pro-chiropractic legislative agenda! Contact MAC Assistant Director Tim Gaughan @ tim@chiromi.com or (517) 367-2225.