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Michigan's 11th Congressional District election, 2026 (August 4 Republican primary)

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← 2024
Michigan's 11th Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: April 21, 2026
Primary: August 4, 2026
General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times:

7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in Michigan

Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
Michigan's 11th Congressional District
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th
Michigan elections, 2026
U.S. Congress elections, 2026
U.S. Senate elections, 2026
U.S. House elections, 2026

A Republican Party primary takes place on August 4, 2026, in Michigan's 11th Congressional District to determine which Republican candidate will run in the district's general election on November 3, 2026.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
April 21, 2026
August 4, 2026
November 3, 2026



A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Michigan utilizes an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary. All candidates appear on the same ballot and a voter may only vote for candidates of one party at any primary.[1][2]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This is one of 51 open races for the U.S. House of Representatives this year in which an incumbent is not running for re-election. Across the country, 21 Democrats and 30 Republicans are not running for re-election. In 2024, 45 incumbents — 24 Democrats and 21 Republicans — did not seek re-election.

This page focuses on Michigan's 11th Congressional District Republican primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Democratic primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

  • Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
  • Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Michigan District 11

Anthony Paesano (R), Tony Prieto (R), and Michael Steger (R) are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Michigan District 11 on August 4, 2026.

Candidate
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Anthony Paesano
Image of Tony Prieto
Tony Prieto  Candidate Connection
Image of Michael Steger
Michael Steger  Candidate Connection

There are no incumbents in this race.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Tony Prieto

Image of Tony Prieto

WebsiteFacebook

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Submitted Biography:  "Tony J. Prieto is a battle-tested businessman, proud America First American Citizen, and son of 1960's Legal Immigrants fleeing Communist Cuba, who followed all laws and became American citizens legally. His father, an Army Veteran, businessman and President of the Chicago Pan-American Lions Club, and his mother with a doctoral degree in clinical psychology, skillfully guided his inter-personal skill sets. Together they instilled the essential concepts of, every detail is important, uphold honorable values, maintain integrity, SHOW UP, and WORK HARD. Tony possesses 35 years of professional bi-lingual experience across the U.S. and Latin America, and is well prepared to bring that real-world, tireless work ethic to the United States House of Representatives for the Constituants of Michigan's 11th Federal District everyday. "No one can out work me," Tony will say. Born in Chicago, and raised with Midwest values and strong beliefs in personal responsibility, is a gift that must be cherished, and is the base upon which Tony built his American Dream from the ground up as a confident and capable family man. He is a STRONG advocate for America First policies that protect our borders, restore law and order, secure economic prosperity, and uphold traditional values. Business Tony’s career "ology-elegy" is a testament to what American entrepreneurship can achieve with Desire, Dedication, and Determination."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

-The Economy and Workforce must be Symbiotic: The cost of living and inflation under Biden, along with INCORRECT COVID POLICIES caused prices to skyrocket for everyday essentials like groceries, housing, and prescription drugs. -Manufacturing and supply chains: The district's economic base in Oakland County is deeply tied to Michigan's manufacturing industry. Voters are concerned with protecting and growing the manufacturing sector, particularly through investments in domestic production to address supply chain vulnerabilities. -STEM and workforce development: Promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education and developing the future workforce are key issues in the district. PET FRIENDLY + MAHA + MAGA

-Healthcare costs and access: Making healthcare more affordable and accessible is a major concern, with calls for policies to control prescription drug prices and address shortages of healthcare professionals. Yet the greatest way to reduce costs and improve long term results still remains as living a healthy lifestyle. Now that CITIZENS are becoming fully aware of their massive exposures to toxins, most health problems shouldl reduce with a lighter toxic load bioaccumulations Unfortunately, some toxins are Persistent Pollutants, such as MERCURY and LEAD. PET FRIENDLY + MAHA + MAGA

-Social and Environmental Issues: Ending the "epidemic of gun violence" has been highlighted as one of Tony's top priorities. As a 2nd Amendment supporter, existing appatus exists to prevent most large scale pre-meditated domestic criminal activity, especially considering the NSA INFRASTRUCTURE. Environmental concerns are also important amongst 11th district polling with significant support among voters for investing in cleaner energy, improving infrastructure like roads and public transportation, and upgrading drinking water systems. such as FLINT's absolute nightmare experience. -Great Lakes Protection: Voters support protecting the Great Lakes Drinking Water from pollution and other threats. PET FRIENDLY + MAHA + MAGA

Michael Steger

Image of Michael Steger

WebsiteFacebookXYouTube

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Submitted Biography:  "Mike Steger is a hard working American who dedicated his career to addressing the growing crisis in America after the terrorist attacks of 9-11. Since 2002, Mike has been relentless in his opposition to the endless wars, globalization, offshoring American industry, and the Fed bailouts. He has been unflinching in his commitment to rebuild American industry and farming, revive the pursuit of real science, and to make our education system once again the best in the world. For ten years Mike ran a company with thirty employees and millions in revenue providing the best political intelligence reports available to hard working, main street Americans. He knows what it means to meet a payroll, create jobs, and hustle to grow a company. For the last five years Mike has built Promethean Action, a policy advocacy group with online videos viewed by millions. Mike has been married for twenty-four years to his beautiful wife, who is a talented musician, singer, and church organist. Mike was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan to a Vietnam Marine combat veteran and a Burr Oak farm girl. They taught him to love God, his country, and his neighbor. He believes in the Constitution and self-government, and wants to rebuild America like never before."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

For too long our nation has been pushed down by fake elites and bad politicians. The forever wars, bailouts, mass immigration, and the off-shoring of industry were not accidents. We need to empower the next generation of Americans with bold, unrelenting leadership. This means re-shoring and rebuilding American industry, increasing the real energy grid, and investing in America - and in Americans. Strong borders and protective tariffs will raise the wages and the value of the American worker. We need to build more homes, increase construction, lower costs, and revive the American dream. This great experiment of self-government is not dead. It lives within us. It's time to unleash the creative power of the American spirit.

We need to secure peace abroad and rebuild America. No longer can our nation help the world while we drown at home. Our younger generations are enraged and hopeless because of decades of failures. We need to end the political divisions that stem from foreign wars and failed globalist policies. For decades we have lowered wages, increased debt, and expanded poverty while politicians got rich from endless wars. This was just stupid and insane. America became the greatest nation on Earth by building the strongest industrial and scientific economy in history. We need to end the wars, secure peace, and launch the greatest reconstruction of American industry and society the world has ever seen.

Our children are suffering the worst social crisis imaginable. Literacy rates in Michigan have collapsed. Our culture has become obsessed with sexual education and academic ideologies rather than focused on literacy, civic responsibility, and great ideas. We have a real mental health crisis. The climate apocalypse agenda has sown fear; social media creates isolation and addiction; and drug use kills hundreds of thousands of our precious young. Today, young adults cannot imagine ever buying a home because inflation is over 50% in five years. This is a wake up call. We need to reprioritize our national culture and devote ourselves to creating a future for the next generations.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Michigan

Election information in Michigan: Aug. 4, 2026, election.

What is the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: Aug. 4, 2026
  • By mail: Postmarked by July 20, 2026
  • Online: July 20, 2026

Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: Aug. 3, 2026
  • By mail: Received by July 31, 2026
  • Online: July 31, 2026

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: Aug. 11, 2026
  • By mail: Received by Aug. 11, 2026

Is early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What are the early voting start and end dates?

July 25, 2026 to Aug. 2, 2026

Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When are polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (ET/CT)

Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Anthony Paesano Republican Party $0 $0 $0 As of December 31, 2025
Tony Prieto Republican Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Michael Steger Republican Party $27,287 $9,312 $17,975 As of December 31, 2025

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

  • District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
  • Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2026 U.S. House elections in the state.
  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
  • State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.


Below is the district map in place for this election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

2025_01_03_mi_congressional_district_011.jpg
See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2026
Information about competitiveness will be added here as it becomes available.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is D+9. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 9 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Michigan's 11th the 136th most Democratic district nationally.[3]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.

2024 presidential results in Michigan's 11th Congressional District
Kamala Harris Democratic PartyDonald Trump Republican Party
57.0%41.0%

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Michigan, 2024

Michigan presidential election results (1900-2024)

  • 13 Democratic wins
  • 18 Republican wins
  • 1 other win
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Winning Party R R R P[4] R R R R D D R D R R R D D D R R R R R D D D D D D R D R
See also: Party control of Michigan state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Michigan's congressional delegation as of October 2025.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Michigan
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 2 6 8
Republican 0 7 7
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 13 15

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Michigan's top four state executive offices as of October 2025.

State executive officials in Michigan, October 2025
OfficeOfficeholder
GovernorDemocratic Party Gretchen Whitmer
Lieutenant GovernorDemocratic Party Garlin Gilchrist II
Secretary of StateDemocratic Party Jocelyn Benson
Attorney GeneralDemocratic Party Dana Nessel

State legislature

Michigan State Senate

Party As of October 2025
     Democratic Party 19
     Republican Party 18
     Other 0
     Vacancies 1
Total 38

Michigan House of Representatives

Party As of October 2025
     Democratic Party 52
     Republican Party 58
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 110

Trifecta control

Michigan Party Control: 1992-2025
Two years of Democratic trifectas  •  Fourteen years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D
Senate R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D
House D S S R R D D R R R R R R R R D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R D D R

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Michigan in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Michigan, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
Michigan U.S. House Democratic or Republican 1,000-2,000 N/A 4/21/2026 Source
Michigan U.S. House Unaffiliated 3,000-6,000 N/A 7/16/2026 Source

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Michigan Legislature, "MCL - Section 168.531," accessed December 9, 2025
  2. ↑ Michigan Legislature, "MCL - Section 168.576," accessed December 9, 2025
  3. ↑ Cook Political Report, "2025 Cook PVI℠: District Map and List (119th Congress)," accessed July 1, 2025
  4. ↑ Progressive Party


Michigan's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Gary Peters (D)
Elissa Slotkin (D)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
Democratic Party (8)
Republican Party (7)


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