Nine Candidates Running As Independent For November In Michigan

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 07/17/2026) The Secretary of State is showing that nine people filed petitions to get on the ballot to run as independents before the 4 p.m. deadline Thursday, including some established political names.

The list includes former state Rep. Sara Cambensy who is running for the 38th Senate District in Marquette. She was previously a Democrat when she first served in the state Legislature.

Detroit native DaNetta Simpson ran for Detroit mayor three times as an independent, three times, according to reporting from Planet Detroit. She is running for the Michigan 9th District House seat, which includes many Democratic candidates, including former Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commissioner Anthony Eid. The seat is open, as state Rep. Joe Tate (D-Detroit) hits term limits.

Joe McHugh is running as an independent for the Michigan 68th House District, which will put him against state Rep. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford). McHugh formerly ran for Attorney General against Dana Nessel as a Libertarian.

Debra Davis is running as an independent in the Michigan 3rd House District. It is unclear if she had previously run, as the phone number given to the Michigan Secretary of State had been disconnected.

Philippe Cicchini is running for the Michigan 9th Senate District as an independent against state Sen. Michael Webber (R-Rochester Hills). Cicchini, one of the few independents with a website, said he is running as an independent, because it shouldn’t be the party telling him how to vote, but the people.

There are also three independents running for a Congressional seat, including Anil Kumar, who previously ran as a Democrat.

Maurice Morton and Shelby Campbell are both running as independents in the 13th Congressional District, and the winner of that primary would face either U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit) or state Rep. Donavan McKinney (D-Detroit).

Morton is an attorney from Detroit and has not previously held public office, according to his campaign website.

Campbell is a 32-year-old single mother and former factory worker in the UAW, according to her campaign website.