The 2022 Michigan elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, throughout

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The Democratic Party made historic gains, taking full control of state government for the first time since 1983 and marking a point where Democrats held all four elected statewide offices, both U.S. Senate seats, and both chambers of the

Michigan Legislature The Michigan Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of the Senate (the upper chamber) and the House of Representatives (the lower chamber). Article IV of the Michigan Con ...

. Democrats won control of the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...

for the first time since 2008, and the

Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...

for the first time since 1984. Additionally, incumbent Democratic

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Gretchen Whitmer Gretchen Esther Whitmer (; born August 23, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 49th governor of Michigan since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she served in the Michigan House of R ...

won reelection by a comfortable margin, with Democrats sweeping every statewide office. Furthermore, the Democrats maintained control of seven seats in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

, while the Republican Party took a net loss of one seat (as the state lost one congressional seat due to

reapportionment Apportionment is the process by which seats in a legislative body are distributed among administrative divisions, such as states or parties, entitled to representation. This page presents the general principles and issues related to apportionment ...

after the 2020 census). The elections in Michigan were widely characterized as a " blue wave".

Federal

Congress

House of Representatives

Democrats won seven House seats in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, winning a majority of the House delegation to the Republicans six.

State

Executive

Governor and lieutenant governor

Incumbent Democratic governor

and Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist won re-election against Republicans Tudor Dixon and Shane Hernandez by a margin of 10.5%.

Secretary of state

Incumbent Democratic secretary of state Jocelyn Benson won re-election against Republican

Kristina Karamo Kristina Karamo (born 1985 or 1986) is an American politician and former poll watcher who served as the chairperson of the Michigan Republican Party from 2023 to 2024. Karamo was the Republican Party's nominee in the 2022 Michigan Secretary of ...

by a margin of 14%.

Attorney general

Incumbent Democratic attorney general

Dana Nessel Dana Michelle Nessel (born April 19, 1969) is an American politician and lawyer, serving as the Michigan Attorney General#List of Attorneys General of Michigan, 54th Michigan Attorney General, attorney general of Michigan since January 2019. She ...

won re-election against Republican Matthew DePerno by a margin of 8.6%.

Legislature

Senate

All 38 seats in the

were up for election in 2022. Democrats gained four seats, flipping the chamber for the first time since 1982.

House of Representatives

All 110 seats in the

were up for election in 2022. Democrats gained three seats, flipping the chamber for the first time since 2008.

Judiciary

Supreme Court

Two seats on the

Michigan Supreme Court The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the s ...

were up for election in 2022.

=Candidates

= * Richard H. Bernstein (Democratic), incumbent justice * Kyra Harris Bolden (Democratic),

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

(2019–2023) *Paul Hudson (Republican), attorney and chair of appeals group at Miller Canfield, P.L.C. *Kerry Lee Morgan (Libertarian), attorney and

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

* Brian Zahra (Republican), incumbent justice

=Results

= Just weeks after the election, Michigan governor

appointed Kyra Harris Bolden to the Supreme Court to replace

Bridget Mary McCormack Bridget Mary McCormack (born July 23, 1966) is an American lawyer, professor, and retired justice. She served on the Michigan Supreme Court from 2013 to 2022, first as an associate justice, and as chief justice from 2019 to 2022. Previously she w ...

, who stepped down.

Ballot initiatives

Proposal 1

Proposal 1, the Legislative Term Limits and Financial Disclosure Amendment, was a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment which modified

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of Term of office, terms a Incumbent, person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in Presidential system, presidential and Semi-presidential republic, semi-president ...

in the

Michigan state legislature The Michigan Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of the Senate (the upper chamber) and the House of Representatives (the lower chamber). Article IV of the Michigan Constituti ...

. Previously, legislators were limited to serving three terms in the

and two terms in the

. This proposal modified the limit to be a lifetime twelve-year limit for service across both chambers. The proposal also increased financial disclosure requirements for various elected officials. The proposal passed 66–34.

Proposal 2

Proposal 2, the Right to Voting Policies Amendment, was a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment which changed voting procedures in the state with the intent of making it easier for citizens to vote. The proposal passed 60–40.

Proposal 3

Proposal 3, the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, was a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment to protect the right to

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

and

contraceptives Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

in the state constitution. The proposal passed 57–43.

Issues

Issues occurred in a few locations with part of the Ottawa County Clerk's office losing power and requiring a backup generator, due to an error involving a construction crew that was working on nearby power lines, precincts in Ada Township temporarily running out of ballots, tabulator jams in Kent County due to ballots being marked in pen that had not dried, and long lines as polls were closing at City Hall in

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. High turnout by college students led to long lines at polling places with polls on the campuses of the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

and

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, although a small portion extends north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

staying open long after the polls closed at other places.

References

External links

* {{2022 United States elections

Michigan elections by year