Michigan's 4th Congressional District election, 2020

	2022 → ← 2018
Michigan's 4th Congressional District
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: May 8, 2020
	Primary: August 4, 2020; General: November 3, 2020; Pre-election incumbent:; John Moolenaar (Republican)
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Voting in Michigan
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Solid Republican; Inside Elections: Solid Republican; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
	Michigan's 4th Congressional District; U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th; Michigan elections, 2020; U.S. Congress elections, 2020; U.S. Senate elections, 2020; U.S. House elections, 2020; Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

All U.S. congressional districts, including the 4th Congressional District of Michigan, held elections in 2020.

Incumbent John Moolenaar won election in the general election for U.S. House Michigan District 4.

Candidate filing deadline	Primary election	General election
May 8, 2020	August 4, 2020	November 3, 2020

Heading into the election the incumbent was Republican John Moolenaar, who was first elected in 2014. The race was one of 56 U.S. House rematches from 2018.

Michigan's 4th Congressional District is located in the central region of the lower peninsula of Michigan. It includes the counties of Clare, Clinton, Gladwin, Gratiot, Isabella, Mecosta, Midland, Missaukee, Ogemaw, Osceola, Roscommon, Shiawassee, and Wexford. It also includes portions of Montcalm and Saginaw counties.^[1]

Post-election analysis

The table below compares the vote totals in the 2020 presidential election and 2020 U.S. House election for this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

Presidential and congressional election results, Michigan's 4th Congressional District, 2020
Race	Presidential	U.S. House
Democratic candidate	37.1	32.4
Republican candidate	61.2	65
Difference	24.1	32.6

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Michigan modified its absentee/mail-in voting procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

Absentee/mail-in voting: Absentee ballot applications were sent to all registered voters in the general election.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Michigan District 4

Incumbent John Moolenaar defeated Jerry Hilliard, David Canny, and Amy Slepr in the general election for U.S. House Michigan District 4 on November 3, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	John Moolenaar (R)	65.0	242,621
	Jerry Hilliard (D)	32.4	120,802
	David Canny (L)	1.4	5,374
	Amy Slepr (G)	1.2	4,448

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 373,245
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Michigan District 4

Jerry Hilliard defeated Anthony Feig in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Michigan District 4 on August 4, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Jerry Hilliard	54.1	26,616
	Anthony Feig	45.9	22,594

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 49,210
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Senan Saleh (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Michigan District 4

Incumbent John Moolenaar advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Michigan District 4 on August 4, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Moolenaar	100.0	97,653

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 97,653
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Green convention

Green convention for U.S. House Michigan District 4

Amy Slepr advanced from the Green convention for U.S. House Michigan District 4 on June 20, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Amy Slepr (G)

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Michigan District 4

David Canny advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Michigan District 4 on July 18, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		David Canny (L)

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.^[2] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.^[3] The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
John Moolenaar	Republican Party	$1,534,896	$1,042,444	$611,147	As of December 31, 2020
Jerry Hilliard	Democratic Party	$41,031	$41,517	$0	As of December 31, 2020
Amy Slepr	Green Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
David Canny	Libertarian Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. 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.

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.^[4]
Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Race ratings: Michigan's 4th Congressional District election, 2020
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 3, 2020	October 27, 2020	October 20, 2020	October 13, 2020
The Cook Political Report	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Candidate ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for 4th Congressional District candidates in Michigan in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Michigan, click here.

Filing requirements, 2020
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Signature formula	Filing fee	Filing fee formula	Filing deadline	Source
Michigan	4th Congressional District	Major party	1,000	Fixed number	N/A	N/A	5/8/2020	Source
Michigan	4th Congressional District	Qualified party	1,000	Fixed number	N/A	N/A	5/8/2020	Source
Michigan	4th Congressional District	Unaffiliated	3,000	Fixed number	N/A	N/A	7/16/2020	Source

District election history