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Michigan primary roundup: Results, reactions and analysis
What you need to know
View live results for Michigan's primary races for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House.
Voters in central and northern Michigan are deciding who will be their parties' nominees in several key races for the November midterms, including the U.S. Senate, governor and the region's three U.S. House seats.
The Democratic Primary for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat between former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed and Congresswoman Haley Stevens as garnered the most national attention.
The outcome of the race is considered a temperature check on the direction of the Democratic Party going into the November midterms. It's also a race that will help determine if Republicans will be able to maintain control of the U.S. Senate.
The race is also being described as a litmus test for the progressive movement, which has won several political races in majority blue cities in 2026, to see if one of their candidates, El-Sayed, can win a statewide race in a purple state. The Great Lakes State went for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024 and elected Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer to two terms in 2018 and 2022.
Stevens or El-Sayed will face off against former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers, who is running unopposed in the GOP primary. He narrowly lost to U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, in 2024.
In the governor's race, Congressman John James is facing off against Oakland County businessman Perry Johnson in the Republican Primary. James has been endorsed by President Donald Trump while Johnson has branded himself and outsider who will audit state government and eliminate the state income tax.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson are squaring off on the Democratic ticket for governor. Benson is considered the favorite, according to the latest polling.
There are also three U.S. House races up for grabs across the region.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, is facing two GOP primary challengers, Justin Michal and Matthew DenOtter, in the First Congressional District. Callie Barr, who lost to Bergman in the 2024 general election, is hoping to win the Democratic Party's nomination once again, but is facing two primary challenges from Kyle Blomquist and Wayne Stiles. Bergman has held northern Michigan's seat in Congress since 2017.
In the Second Congressional District, incumbent U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Caledonia, is running unopposed. Three Democrats are running to face Moolenaar in November, including Ben Ambrose, Jamie Hill and Clyde Welford. Moolenaar won the 2022 and 2024 general elections by wide margins.
U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Bay City, is running unopposed in the 8th Congressional District and is the incumbent. On the GOP side, Amir Hassan, Al Lemmo and Thomas Smith are duking it out to face McDonald Rivet in November. The district, which includes large swaths of the Saginaw Bay region, has been considered a purple district. However, Democrats have held the seat since 2022.
Photos: Saginaw hits the primary polls
Voters across the city of Saginaw and Saginaw Township hit the polls to cast their ballots in the Aug. 4, 2026 primary elections.
Here’s when to expect results in Michigan’s primary election
With primary races for the U.S. Senate, governor, and more going down to the wire, everyone is going to be watching Michigan on Tuesday.
But it might take a while to know the actual winners, particularly in close races.
Michigan counts its ballots as fast or faster than a lot of other swing states. And the state has done a lot in recent years to count even faster — for instance, by allowing people to vote early in person and letting election officials process absentee ballots before Election Day.
Slowdowns in reporting election results can give rise to unfounded speculation about improprieties in the count. Taking time to release results, though, isn’t a sign that anything is wrong — it’s a byproduct of the fact that running elections is complicated and involves many steps, which often take time to get right.
Here’s what to know about when to expect results from Michigan’s primary election.
Senate primary is one of the most expensive ever
Progressive candidates across the country have been upsetting Democratic centrist incumbents in deep blue strongholds like New York City, Philadelphia and Colorado. Many political analysts say there’s a battle happening for control of the party’s future.
Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary pits establishment-backed Congresswoman Haley Stevens versus the more progressive former public health official Abdul El-Sayed.
Stevens said she isn’t worried about what pundits are saying and is focused on issues like affordability.
“I squarely believe that this is a Michigan moment," Stevens said. "What our state is going through right now needs to be heard, and it needs to be understood.”
Speaking to reporters in Detroit Monday night, El-Sayed echoed that sentiment.
“I'll be honest with you. I just don't spend as much time thinking about the future of the Democratic Party," he said. "I'm interested in the future of Michiganders and Michigan voters.”
There has been a rift between the more progressive El-Sayed and the establishment-backed Stevens, but El-Sayed said the focus will change on Aug. 5th.
“The goal now is not to dunk on anybody," El-Sayed said. "The goal now is to come together so we can all collectively dunk on Mike Rogers.”
Republican Mike Rogers did not have to go through a primary, after being endorsed by President Trump.
Stevens says the Democratic Party will come together no matter who wins the primary.
“We're going to be able to band together no matter what happens and beat Mike Rogers," Stevens said. "No one's talked about this guy. I don't even think I've seen him. He's been a bump on the log.”
The race is one of the most expensive senate primaries ever, with more than $60 million being spent on advertising and mailers, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Courtesy of WDET
DOJ monitoring multiple polling locations
Federal election monitors are watching primary voting take place in four Michigan cities on primary day.
The U.S. Department of Justice sent them to polls in Lansing, East Lansing, Detroit and Hamtramck.
Michigan Department of Attorney General spokesperson Kimberly Bush says things are going smoothly with the guests.
"They’ve been cordial, they’ve been friendly, there have been no real issues to report, which is what we expected, we expected them to be observing to be just witnessing the normal process as they have in previous elections when they’ve been here," Bush said.
The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division sent monitors to Grand Rapids during the 20-4 general election as part of routine enforcement of civil rights laws.
The decision to send monitors this year has faced scrutiny out of concerns it could feed into falsehoods about widespread voter fraud.
Republicans have largely welcomed the move as helping keep Michigan’s elections fair.
Primaries in the Midwest have become a high stakes proving ground for progressives
The Democratic primary for Michigan's 7th Congressional District puts the high stakes for the party in the midterm elections on full display. The district is one of just 18 toss-up districts, making the Republican-held seat a top target for Democrats trying to retake the House.
That's why it has attracted candidates including a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, a retired Navy Seal and William Lawrence, a co-founder of the climate activist group the Sunshine Movement.
Lawrence thinks his outsider approach and willingness to criticize his own party is just what this competitive district needs to win in November.
"What I hear is people are fed up," Lawrence said in an interview with NPR. "They're ready for change and they don't feel that either party has been representing their interests in DC."
This year, far left challengers have notched upset wins against Democratic incumbents in deep blue congressional districts from New York to Colorado.
That brand of progressive politics is about to get its biggest test yet, in midwestern swing states and competitive districts that could decide control of Congress. Democrats voting in primaries this month in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota are wrestling with a question that has divided the party going back at least to 2016.
Republican request for Michigan election worker info denied by Secretary of State
The Michigan Secretary of State’s office has denied a Republican Party freedom-of-information request for identifying information of people who volunteer to be election poll workers.
The Secretary of State’s letter dated July 31 said fulfilling the request would constitute an “unwarranted invasion of privacy” under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. The requested information included home addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, and medical or disability status.
The letter said the people who add their information the Michigan Democracy MVP program are signing up to have their names shared with their local governments — but not the general public — as prospective election workers:
“Shielding their identity is essential to protecting the person’s privacy and preventing an unwarranted invasion of privacy and/or threats to election workers’ physical safety/security. Furthermore, revealing the identity of the applicant does not contribute significantly to the public’s understanding of the Department’s operations or activities," the letter said.
"Public disclosure of an applicant’s sensitive personal information would discourage others from volunteering as election workers, thereby diminishing an important public resource. When volunteers provided their personal information, they did so with the understanding that it may be shared with jurisdictions looking for potential poll workers,” the letter continued.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is a Democratic candidate for governor, said the decision places a priority on protecting election workers.
“In Michigan, voters’ privacy is paramount,” she said. “And as Michigan’s Secretary of State, I will protect the private information of Michigan citizens from misuse and abuse, including partisan attempts to target Michiganders based on their party affiliation and willingness to serve as poll workers.
The state has also declined to share identifying information in voter rolls with the Trump administration. That position was upheld in court.
A Republican National Committee spokesperson defended the request.
“Public records laws are one of many ways the RNC fights to protect election integrity and ensure election officials follow the law,” said RNC Election Integrity Communications Director Ally Triolo. "From increasing transparency to helping qualified Republicans serve as election workers, these efforts strengthen confidence in our elections and help keep the process fair and secure.”
The Republican Party can appeal the state's refusal of its request. Triolo did not say what the RNC’s next steps might be. One possibility is filing a lawsuit in a state court.
In the race for Senate in Michigan, multiple party fights are colliding for Democrats
DETROIT — After two years in the political wilderness, Democrats are feeling cautiously optimistic about turning the tide in the midterms. That has only intensified debate about the direction of the party.
Nowhere is that debate more fraught now than Michigan, where Democrats are weighing two millennial candidates for an open Senate seat.
One is Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist firing up progressives by embracing "Medicare for All" and ripping the influence of corporate money in politics.
The other is Haley Stevens, a four-term congresswoman who flipped a suburban House district and pledges to fight President Trump while still practicing a more moderate brand of politics.
"You have candidates who are very different," says Joel Rutherford, a Democrat from Warren, Mich. "This passion has just become so big. I try to tell people this is political, not personal."
It does not help that the race has become a proxy for so many debates Democrats are wrestling with: Establishment versus insurgent. Progressive versus more moderate. New media versus old.
And the stakes are high for Democrats. To win back the Senate, the party needs to net a total of four seats. But their path to the majority also depends on holding onto the seat in Michigan — infusing the choice voters make in Tuesday's primary with national implications.