2020 United States Senate election in Michigan

The 2020 United States Senate election in Michigan was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent Michigan. It was held concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

This race was one of two-Democratic held U.S. Senate seats up for election in 2020 in a state Donald Trump won in 2016. The primary was held on August 4.

The filing deadline for candidates to run in the primary was April 21 but was extended to May 8 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The election was considered a potential upset pickup by the Republicans due to the state's demographic trends, Donald Trump's upset win in 2016, and Republican candidate John James's outperformance of polling expectations despite losing the state's Senate election in 2018. However, most experts still believed Gary Peters to be the more likely winner.

Peters won re-election to a second term, though by a closer margin than expected. James, who outperformed Trump on the same ballot, initially refused to concede, claiming in a statement published to his campaign website two days after the election that he had been "cheated" out of winning the election. The statement alleged that there were "deep concerns that millions of Michiganders may have been disenfranchised by a dishonest few who cheat.". On November 24, James conceded the race exactly three weeks after election day. With a margin of 1.68%, this election was the second-closest race of the 2020 Senate election cycle, behind only the regularly-scheduled election in Georgia.

Nominee

 * Gary Peters, incumbent U.S. senator

Declined

 * Abdul El-Sayed, former executive director of the Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion and candidate for Governor of Michigan in 2018

Nominee

 * John James, businessman, Iraq War veteran and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2018

Disqualified

 * Bob Carr, historic preservationist, businessman and perennial candidate
 * Valerie Willis, write-in candidate in the 2018 United States Senate election in Michigan (switched to U.S. Taxpayers candidacy)

Declined

 * Tom Leonard, former Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives and nominee for Michigan Attorney General in 2018
 * Candice Miller, Macomb County Public Works Commissioner and former U.S. Representative for Michigan's 10th congressional district
 * Sandy Pensler, businessman and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018
 * Bill Schuette, former Michigan Attorney General and nominee for Governor of Michigan in 2018 (endorsed John James)
 * Rick Snyder, former governor of Michigan

Withdrawn

 * Frank Seldon Cupps (as a write-in candidate)

Nominee

 * Marcia Squier (2018 Green Party nominee for US Senate)

Nominee

 * Doug Dern

Nominee

 * Valerie L. Willis (switched from Republican candidacy after being disqualified for the Republican primary)

Independents

 * Leonard Gadzinski

Withdrawn

 * Gregory Charles Jones

Aggregate polls
The following poll assumes neither Republican candidate would withdraw after their primary.
 * with Bob Carr and John James


 * with Bill Schuette


 * with Gary Peters and Generic Republican


 * with Gary Peters and Generic Opponent


 * with Generic Democrat and Generic Republican

Results
Polls indicated that the race would be close, with Peters leading in most polls. In 2018, Michigan voters approved "no reason required" absentee balloting. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a record number of absentee voters. Michigan law does not allow for early tabulating of absentee ballots, so the absentee ballots were tabulated after completing the tabulating of ballots from polling places. This created a "mirage" effect because more Republicans voted on election day, and more Democrats voted by absentee ballot. James was ahead when the counting of election day ballots was completed. When the absentee ballots were tabulated, and with 98% of the votes counted, Peters was declared the winner by a tight margin of one percentage point after a day of waiting. When the results were certified on November 23, Peters' margin of victory was 1.68%.

Peters was able to win re-election by running up a big margin in Wayne County, home of Detroit, winning over 67% of the vote there. He also managed to improve his performance in the reliably Democratic Washtenaw County, home of Ann Arbor, improving on his 2014 election by almost three percentage points. He also came within just 1,139 votes of winning Kent County, home of Grand Rapids, having lost the county by over eight percentage points six years prior. Peters was sworn in for his second term on January 3, 2021. His term will expire on January 3, 2027.

African-Americans in Detroit were a major demographic contributing to Peters winning the election.

James would later be elected as a representative in Michigan's 10th congressional district in 2022.


 * Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican


 * Alger (largest municipality: Munising)
 * Alpena (largest municipality: Alpena)
 * Arenac (largest municipality: Standish)
 * Bay (largest municipality: Bay City)
 * Benzie (largest municipality: Frankfort)
 * Calhoun (largest municipality: Battle Creek)
 * Chippewa (largest municipality: Sault Ste. Marie)
 * Clare (largest municipality: Clare)
 * Clinton (largest municipality: St. Johns)
 * Gladwin (largest municipality: Gladwin)
 * Gogebic (largest municipality: Ironwood)
 * Gratiot (largest municipality: Alma)
 * Iosco (largest municipality: East Tawas)
 * Isabella (largest municipality: Mount Pleasant)
 * Jackson (largest municipality: Jackson)
 * Lake (largest municipality: Baldwin)
 * Leelanau (largest municipality: Greilickville)
 * Macomb (largest municipality: Warren)
 * Manistee (largest municipality: Manistee)
 * Monroe (largest municipality: Monroe)
 * Muskegon (largest municipality: Muskegon)
 * Ogemaw (largest municipality: Skidway Lake)
 * Presque Isle (largest municipality: Rogers City)
 * Roscommon (largest municipality: Houghton Lake)
 * Shiawassee (largest municipality: Owosso)
 * St. Clair (largest municipality: Port Huron)
 * Van Buren (largest municipality: South Haven)

By congressional district
John James won eight of Michigan's 14 congressional districts, including one district that was won by a Democrat, and Gary Peters won six of Michigan's 14 congressional districts.

Litigation
After Peters took the lead in the election on the 4th, James refused to concede the race. The following day, James claimed that he had been cheated out of winning the election in a statement published on his campaign website. The statement said that there were "[...] deep concerns that millions of Michiganders may have been disenfranchised by a dishonest few who cheat" and that "[...] there is enough credible evidence to warrant an investigation to ensure that elections were conducted in a transparent, legal and fair manner." A lawyer for James' campaign alleged that fraud was committed at the TCF Center, which the Trump campaign had also attempted to claim in a dismissed lawsuit. James conceded the election to Peters on November 24.