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Republican Party nomination
By March 2, a number of candidates had declared their candidacy for the Republican nomination, including the following: Albert Sleeper of Bad Axe, Washington Gardiner of Albion, Luren Dickinson of Charlotte, Gerrit J. Diekema of Holland, and Frank B. Leland of Detroit. The Yale Expositor had also reported the potential for Amos S. Musselman of Grand Rapids and Frederick C. Martindale of Detroit to run.

Democratic Party nomination
By late July, it was unclear if incumbent, Democratic governor, Woodbridge N. Ferris, would run for a third term or not. Democrats had considered Charles H. Bender, president of City Trust & Savings Bank, and Edwin F. Sweet, United States deputy secretary of commerce. Both men were from Grand Rapids. On July 25, a meeting of the Democratic state central committee had favored Bender for the nomination. The committee was against asking Henry Ford to run, as he was uninterested in politics. By this time, it was known Governor Ferris would not be running for re-election. Ferris had endorsed Bender's nomination. On July 26, the committee had tentatively selected Bender as their candidate for governor.

Bender had earlier said he did not want to be a candidate. Bender was more interested in business than politics. By July 27, Democratic Committee Chairman A. E. Stevenson and Governor Ferris urged Bender to run, though he was not swayed. Stevenson did not accept Bender's refusal as final and, by July 28, began circulating petitions as preparation for Bender's name to appear on the primary ballot.

By July 31, Bender still refused the nomination, however, he was the only name filed to appear on the Democratic primary ballot for the election in August. Bender ultimately allowed his name to be on the ballot, but had made it clear that he would resign as nominee after the election. In the primary election, despite Ford's disinterest and his name not appearing on the ballot, he received 1,344 votes. His candidacy was promoted with paper slips.

Bender's refusal left the responsibility of choosing a gubernatorial nominee with the state central committee. Ford was asked by the committee to accept the nomination, though he refused. The committee had decided to return to a potential candidate from earlier consideration, Edwin F. Sweet. After the primary, Sweet had received a telegram asking him to run, though he could not give an immediate answer, as he was in North Dakota, and he'd have to consult with U. S. Secretary of Commerce William C. Redfield in Washington, D.C. before he could consider it. By August 17, Governor Ferris had endorsed Sweet's nomination. By September 5, Sweet agreed to run for governor, after being urged to run by President Woodrow Wilson via telegram. On September 21, Sweet's nomination was confirmed by the state central committee. On September 26, Sweet resigned as deputy secretary, and left Washington for Michigan to begin his campaign.