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Michigan's 9th Congressional District election, 2026 (August 4 Republican primary)

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← 2024
Michigan's 9th Congressional District
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge.png
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 Republican
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending
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, 2026
See also
Michigan's 9th 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 9th 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 page focuses on Michigan's 9th 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 9

Incumbent Lisa McClain (R) and Daltson Atwell (R) are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Michigan District 9 on August 4, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Lisa McClain
Lisa McClain
Image of Daltson Atwell
Daltson Atwell  Candidate Connection

Incumbents are bolded and underlined.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed 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.

Daltson Atwell

Image of Daltson Atwell

WebsiteFacebook

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Submitted Biography:  "Daltson's journey began in Montrose, Michigan, raised by a determined single mother. At 13, he moved to Sebring, Florida, with his mother and stepfather, completed his education, and later returned to Michigan with a plane ticket and the clothes on his back. Driven by his ambitions, he took on various labor jobs while cultivating his entrepreneurial spirit. With only $1,200 and his trustworthy S-10 pickup, he founded Stone Yard Landscape Center, which has since become a well-known business at the busiest intersection in Saginaw County, now proudly featuring a brand new facility."

Key Messages

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

Focus on the Thumb. I see first hand the struggles occurring all over our District. I’m not the only one who feels this area has been forgotten! Let’s revive our communities and businesses together!

No Satellite representation!! District 09 needs a representative who is present in all parts of the district! My goal is to represent all parts of the district! But it’s all hands on deck! Being present in this district as much as possible to be here first hands for the constituents!

Get back to the Constitution! So many lawmakers fell our constitution is no longer prevalent and chaos is coming from it. I’m a firm believer in upholding the U.S. Constitution!

Voting information

See also: Voting in Michigan

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Lisa McClain Republican Party $3,382,948 $2,405,329 $1,584,477 As of December 31, 2025
Daltson Atwell Republican Party $28,220 $28,204 $17 As of January 5, 2026

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.

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_09.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 R+16. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 16 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Michigan's 9th the 63rd most Republican 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 9th Congressional District
Kamala Harris Democratic PartyDonald Trump Republican Party
33.0%65.0%

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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