Elections

Democrats are making Mike Rogers’ congressional health care voting record and campaign contributions from pharmaceutical and insurance interests a key line of attack as they try to draw a contrast between the Republican and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.

Races in two neighboring south-central House districts are sucking up nearly half of all the reserved TV spending in state House races going into the first weekend of absentee voting, based on tracking information from AdImpact.

This week, MIRS Editor Kyle Melinn received in the mail at his Lansing address a campaign flier for Mike Bouchard, who is running for a congressional district 100 miles away in Macomb County.

Realtor Jody White and retired engineer Thomas Howe acknowledge they are not attorneys. They are also the U.S. Taxpayers Party’s nominees for Michigan Supreme Court, where the state Constitution requires justices to have been admitted to the practice of law for at least five years.

Republican Secretary of State nominee Anthony Forlini today said third-party groups collecting and transporting voter registration forms open up folks' private details to harvesters with bad intentions. The drives also produced repeat applications from already-registered voters, he said, adding to clerks’ workload.

With less than six weeks before the Nov. 3 general election, House Republicans and Democrats used Wednesday’s session to sharpen competing political messages, with Republicans targeting socialism and Democrats repeatedly trying to force action on gas prices.

Michigan voters overwhelmingly trust elections conducted in their own communities, but that confidence falls sharply when they are asked about elections elsewhere in the state, according to new polling that found a significant partisan divide over election integrity.

Black voters across Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin differ sharply by age and gender in how they view the Democratic Party, what issues they prioritize and what they want from candidates, according to new polling that researchers say should caution campaigns against treating the “Black vote” as a single political bloc.

Engaged couples fell in love with the Country Barn Estates' (CBE) rustic wedding venue and paid thousands of dollars to reserve the dream spot for their big day.

House Democrats said they're adding House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township)'s 42nd District to their battleground map and reserving more than $700,000 in broadcast advertising.

A day after Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Rogers used a national convention speech to portray Abdul El-Sayed as sympathetic to extremists, El-Sayed went before a packed Michigan State University ballroom and tried to move the race back to young voters, health care, housing and the cost of living.

The Libertarian Party of Michigan's nominee for lieutenant governor was arraigned Thursday on a felony larceny charge, adding another complication to an election cycle in which one longtime party official says Michigan Libertarians have struggled with shrinking participation, ideological extremes and candidates who don't reflect traditional libertarian principles.

Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Rogers used his national convention speech today to portray Democratic opponent Abdul El-Sayed as sympathetic to extremists and hostile to American values, hours before a voice in the convention crowd could be heard yelling “He should be shot” after U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz mentioned El-Sayed by name.

William Lawrence responded today to a dig from President Donald Trump that he’s a “self-described Marxist” who “hates family households” and “wants to destroy the American way of life." In responding, Lawrence sounded less like a candidate on the defensive and more like one celebrating the attention.

Michigan's August primary electorate may be getting steadily grayer, but 2026 brought a noticeable exception: Voters under 40 showed up in their largest share in nearly three decades.

Signs of antisemitism and anti-Muslim rhetoric have sprouted up throughout Michigan's U.S. Senate campaign, but political observers caution against assuming Jewish and Muslim voters will neatly line up behind Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 09/03/2026) In a three-sentence order, the Michigan Supreme Court today denied an appeal challenging certification of the Michiganders for Money Out of Politics ballot committee’s proposal. The court rejected Protect MI Free Speech and James Holcomb’s request to force the Board of State Canvassers to undo its certification, saying it was “not persuaded that it should grant the requested relief.” Protect MI spokesperson John Sellek said the court

Perry Johnson unloaded $32,908,084 of his own money on his unsuccessful 2026 gubernatorial primary bid, according to the campaign's post-primary finance report due today, making it the most expensive self-funded gubernatorial primary campaign in modern Michigan history.

Michigan Victory Fund launched a second broadcast and cable television ad against Jocelyn Benson that is expected to start today across most of the designated market areas (DMAs) of Michigan.

Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who suspended his independent campaign for governor in May, said on WJR Radio that he "can't imagine" ever running for elected office again. He added that he spoke to long-time Michigan State University (MSU) basketball coach Tom Izzo when the university was seeking a new president.