Michigan gubernatorial election, 2026 (August 4 Democratic primary)

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← 2022
Governor of Michigan
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: Toss-up Sabato's Crystal Ball: Toss-up Inside Elections: Toss-up
Ballotpedia analysis
Federal and state primary competitiveness State executive elections in 2026 Impact of term limits in 2026 State government trifectas State government triplexes Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
Michigan executive elections
Governor Lieutenant Governor Attorney General Secretary of State State Board of Education (2 seats) Michigan State University Board of Trustees (2 seats) University of Michigan Board of Regents (2 seats) Wayne State University Board of Governors (2 seats)

A Democratic Party primary takes place on August 4, 2026, in Michigan to determine which candidate will earn the right to run as the party's nominee in the state's gubernatorial election on November 3, 2026.

In Michigan, the gubernatorial nominee is selected in the primary. Major and minor party lieutenant gubernatorial nominees are chosen at party conventions and run on a joint ticket with the gubernatorial nominee.

This page focuses on Michigan's Democratic Party gubernatorial primary. For more in-depth information on Michigan's Republican gubernatorial primary and the general election, see the following pages:

• Michigan gubernatorial election, 2026 (August 4 Republican primary)
• Michigan gubernatorial election, 2026

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

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

Candidate profiles

There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Michigan

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

Election analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.

• Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the state.
• Statewide elections - Information about recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in the state.
• State partisanship - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
• Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.

• Presidential elections
• Statewide elections
• State partisanship
• Demographics

See also: Presidential voting trends in Michigan and The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Cook PVI by congressional district

2024 presidential results by 2026 congressional district lines

2024 presidential results in congressional districts, Michigan

District	Kamala Harris	Donald Trump
Michigan's 1st	39.0%	60.0%
Michigan's 2nd	34.0%	64.0%
Michigan's 3rd	53.0%	45.0%
Michigan's 4th	46.0%	52.0%
Michigan's 5th	36.0%	63.0%
Michigan's 6th	60.0%	37.0%
Michigan's 7th	49.0%	50.0%
Michigan's 8th	48.0%	50.0%
Michigan's 9th	33.0%	65.0%
Michigan's 10th	46.0%	52.0%
Michigan's 11th	57.0%	41.0%
Michigan's 12th	67.0%	29.0%
Michigan's 13th	69.0%	28.0%
Source: The Downballot

2016-2024

How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:

County-level voting pattern categories
Democratic
Status	2016	2020	2024
Solid Democratic	D	D	D
Trending Democratic	R	D	D
Battleground Democratic	D	R	D
New Democratic	R	R	D
Republican
Status	2016	2020	2024
Solid Republican	R	R	R
Trending Republican	D	R	R
Battleground Republican	R	D	R
New Republican	D	D	R

Following the 2024 presidential election, 45.7% of Michiganians lived in one of the state's 72 Solid Republican counties, which voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election from 2016 to 2024, and 43.9% lived in one of 7 Solid Democratic counties. Overall, Michigan was Battleground Republican, having voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016, Joe Biden (D) in 2020, and Donald Trump (R) in 2024. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in Michigan following the 2024 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.

Michigan county-level statistics, 2024
Solid Republican	72	45.7%
Solid Democratic	7	43.9%
Trending Democratic	2	6.8%
Battleground Republican	1	1.9%
New Republican	1	1.8%
Total voted Democratic	9	50.7%
Total voted Republican	74	49.3%

Historical voting trends

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	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

This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.

U.S. Senate elections

See also: List of United States Senators from Michigan

The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in Michigan.

U.S. Senate election results in Michigan

Race	Winner	Runner up
2024	48.6%	48.3%
2020	49.9%	48.2%
2018	52.3%	45.8%
2014	54.6%	41.3%
2012	58.6%	38.0%
Average	52.8	44.3

Gubernatorial elections

See also: Governor of Michigan

The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in Michigan.

Gubernatorial election results in Michigan

Race	Winner	Runner up
2022	54.5%	43.9%
2018	53.3%	43.7%
2014	50.9%	46.9%
2010	58.1%	39.9%
2006	56.4%	42.3%
Average	54.6	43.3

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

Office	Officeholder
Governor	Gretchen Whitmer
Lieutenant Governor	Garlin Gilchrist II
Secretary of State	Jocelyn Benson
Attorney General	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

The table below details demographic data in Michigan and compares it to the broader United States as of 2023.

Demographic Data for Michigan
	Michigan	United States
Population	10,077,331	331,449,281
Land area (sq mi)	56,610	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White	74.8%	63.4%
Black/African American	13.4%	12.4%
Asian	3.3%	5.8%
Native American	0.5%	0.9%
Pacific Islander	0.3%	0.4%
Other (single race)	1.8%	6.6%
Multiple	6.3%	10.7%
Hispanic/Latino	5.7%	19%
Education
High school graduation rate	91.9%	89.4%
College graduation rate	31.8%	35%
Income
Median household income	$71,149	$78,538
Persons below poverty level	13.1%	12.4%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

State profile

Demographic data for Michigan
	Michigan	U.S.
Total population:	9,917,715	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	56,539	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	79%	73.6%
Black/African American:	14%	12.6%
Asian:	2.7%	5.1%
Native American:	0.5%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.6%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	4.7%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	89.6%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	26.9%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$49,576	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	20%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Michigan. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Michigan

Michigan voted for the Democratic candidate in four out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, 12 are located in Michigan, accounting for 5.83 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Michigan had 11 Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 6.08 and 4.00 of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Michigan coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Michigan
• United States congressional delegations from Michigan
• Public policy in Michigan
• Endorsers in Michigan
• Michigan fact checks
• More...

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic
• Governor of Michigan official website

Footnotes

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