2018 Michigan gubernatorial election

The 2018 Michigan gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of Michigan, concurrently with the election of Michigan's Class I U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.

Incumbent Republican Governor Rick Snyder and Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley were term-limited and were unable to seek a third term in office. The filing deadline was April 24, 2018. The Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties chose their nominees in a partisan primary on August 7, 2018. 2018 was the first year the Libertarian Party held a gubernatorial primary alongside the two other major parties in the state of Michigan. The Working Class Party, U.S. Taxpayers Party, Green Party and Natural Law Party chose their nominees at state party conventions.

Democrat Gretchen Whitmer was elected with 53.3% of the vote. The election was not as close as expected, with Whitmer receiving 53.3% of the vote to Schuette's 43.8%. Schuette performed best in more sparsely populated areas, while Whitmer was supported by large margins in large and medium cities, such as Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Lansing. Whitmer also performed well in the Detroit suburbs. Whitmer carried former Republican stronghold Kent County (location of her native Grand Rapids), the first Democratic candidate to do so since James Blanchard's landslide 1986 reelection. Democrats swept the statewide races by also holding onto the Senate seat that was up for re-election, and picking up the positions of secretary of state and attorney general. They also captured every state university trustee seat that was up for election as well as the State Board of Education.

Nominated

 * Bill Schuette, Attorney General of Michigan

Eliminated in primary

 * Brian Calley, Lieutenant Governor
 * Patrick Colbeck, state senator
 * Jim Hines, physician and president of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations

Declined

 * David Agema, former Republican National Committeeman and former state representative (endorsed Patrick Colbeck)
 * Jase Bolger, former Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives
 * Larry C. Inman, state representative
 * Ruth Johnson, Michigan Secretary of State and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2006 (running for state senate)
 * Arlan Meekhof, Majority Leader of the Michigan Senate
 * Candice Miller, Macomb County Public Works Commissioner and former U.S. Representative (endorsed Bill Schuette)

Results
[[Image:2018 MI gubernatorial GOP primary.svg|thumb|Results by county Map legend

{{legend|#c83737|Schuette—60–70%}}

{{legend|#d35f5f|Schuette—50–60%}}

{{legend|#de8787|Schuette—40–50%}}

{{legend|#e9afaf|Schuette—30–40%}}

{{legend|#afe9af|Calley—30–40%}}

{{legend|#87de87|Calley—40–50%}}

{{legend|#5fd35f|Calley—50–60%}} ]]

Nominated

 * Gretchen Whitmer, former Ingham County Prosecuting Attorney and former Minority Leader of the Michigan Senate

Eliminated in primary

 * Abdul El-Sayed, former executive director of the Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion
 * Shri Thanedar, author and entrepreneur

Write-In

 * Bill C. Cobbs, businessman

Declined

 * John Austin, former president of the Michigan Board of Education
 * Mark Bernstein, member of University of Michigan Board of Regents
 * Mike Duggan, Mayor of Detroit
 * Geoffrey Fieger, attorney and nominee for governor in 1998
 * Mark Hackel, Macomb County Executive
 * Dan Kildee, U.S. Representative
 * Andy Levin, energy consultant and son of Congressman Sander Levin (running for Congress in MI-9)
 * Barbara McQuade, former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan
 * Gary Peters, U.S. Senator
 * Matt Simoncini, CEO of Lear Corporation
 * Bart Stupak, former U.S. Representative

Results
[[Image:2018 MI gubernatorial Dem primary.svg|thumb|Results by county Map legend

{{legend|#3771c8|Whitmer—60–70%}}

{{legend|#5f8dd3|Whitmer—50–60%}}

{{legend|#87aade|Whitmer—40–50%}} ]]

Libertarian primary
The Libertarian Party is one of three parties that have a primary in Michigan.

Nominated

 * Bill Gelineau

Eliminated in primary

 * John Tatar

Green Convention
The Green Party chose candidates for the 2018 ballot at its state convention on May 5, 2018, at the University of Michigan-Flint.

Declared and nominated

 * Jennifer Kurland, president of the Redford Union School Board

Declared and nominated

 * Todd Schleiger

Declared and nominated

 * Keith Butkovich

Predictions

 * Notes

Polling

 * with Bill Schuette and Abdul El-Sayed
 * with Bill Schuette and Shri Thanedar


 * with Brian Calley and Gretchen Whitmer
 * with Brian Calley and Shri Thanedar
 * with Bill Schuette and Geoffrey Fieger
 * with Bill Schuette and Mike Duggan

Debates
Two televised debates between Schuette and Whitmer were scheduled. The first debate was held on Friday, October 12, and hosted by Grand Rapids television station WOOD-TV. That debate mainly concentrated on issues and there were no surprises or major errors from either candidate. The second debate was hosted by Detroit television station WDIV and was held on Wednesday, October 24. The two again clashed on various issues, but Schuette made a gaffe when he mixed up Whitmer's name with that of former governor Jennifer Granholm.

Campaign
While Whitmer's Democratic primary opponents publicly endorsed Whitmer in the general election, Republican nominee Schuette left the party split after the acrimonious battle with lieutenant governor Calley, with outgoing governor Rick Snyder refusing to endorse Schuette. Schuette also tried to hide his endorsement by Donald Trump from the primary in the general election. His actions as attorney general also came back to haunt him. Whitmer held consistent leads in polls over Schuette over the entire year.

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

 * Alger (largest city: Munising)
 * Baraga (largest village: Baraga)
 * Manistee (largest city: Manistee)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

 * Clinton (largest city: St. Johns)
 * Isabella (largest city: Mount Pleasant)
 * Kalamazoo (largest city: Kalamazoo)
 * Kent (largest city: Grand Rapids)
 * Leelanau (largest CDP: Greilickville)
 * Macomb (largest city: Warren)
 * Oakland (largest city: Troy)

By congressional district
Whitmer won 7 of Michigan's 14 congressional districts. The seven districts she won all elected Democrats to Congress, and the seven that Schuette won all elected Republicans, though he won the district that elected Justin Amash by a very narrow margin of 0.4% and the district that elected Fred Upton by an even thinner 0.2%.