Michigan Turns Blue at the Top as Benson Wins Governor’s Race and Democrats Claim Return to Power in Lansing

 

LANSING, Mich. — Democrats swept Michigan’s leading statewide executive races in Tuesday’s election, with Jocelyn Benson winning the governorship, Garlin Gilchrist II capturing secretary of state and Eli Savit winning attorney general.

Democrats also retained control of the state Senate and declared victory in their effort to reclaim the state House, positioning the party to restore unified control of Michigan government. Legislative results remained incomplete Wednesday morning, however, and the available seat counts did not yet provide a final breakdown of either chamber.

Across Michigan’s 13 congressional districts, Democrats had secured six seats and Republicans four, while three competitive contests remained without a confirmed call in the results reviewed.

All vote totals below are unofficial and reflect Wednesday-morning updates.

Benson defeats James for governor

Benson led Republican John James by 501,801 votes, receiving 2,572,776 votes, or 54.5%, to James’ 2,070,975 votes, or 43.8%. Approximately 96% of the estimated vote had been counted.

Libertarian Anthony Hudson received 0.9%, while U.S. Taxpayers candidate Donna Brandenburg and Green Party candidate Douglas Campbell each received 0.4%.

CBS News separately projected Benson’s victory, confirming that Michigan’s outgoing secretary of state had won the contest for governor.

Her victory gives Democrats continued control of the governor’s office and, if the party’s declared House victory holds, a renewed opportunity to advance legislation through both chambers.

Gilchrist wins secretary of state; Savit takes attorney general

Gilchrist defeated Republican Anthony G. Forlini in the secretary of state contest. The tally showed Gilchrist with 2,509,276 votes, or 53.7%, compared with Forlini’s 2,040,817 votes, or 43.6% — a lead of 468,459 votes.

In the attorney general race, Savit received 2,430,859 votes, or 52.4%, against Republican Doug Lloyd’s 2,079,170 votes, or 44.8%. Savit’s advantage stood at 351,689 votes.

Both Democratic victories were also projected by CBS News.

Together, the three statewide wins keep Michigan’s principal elected executive offices in Democratic hands.

Statewide office	Winner	Party	Vote share
Governor	Jocelyn Benson	Democratic	54.5%
Secretary of state	Garlin Gilchrist II	Democratic	53.7%
Attorney general	Eli Savit	Democratic	52.4%

Democrats secure Senate majority; House victory declared as counting continues

The clearest legislative outcome was the state Senate, where Democrats had secured 21 seats and Republicans 14, with three contests outstanding.

Michigan’s 38-member Senate requires 20 seats for a majority. Democrats therefore had enough seats to control the chamber regardless of the remaining results.

The state House picture required more qualification. The available tally showed Democrats with 54 seats and Republicans with 43, leaving 13 unresolved. A majority in the 110-member House requires 56 seats.

Chamber	Democratic seats shown	Republican seats shown	Outstanding	Control
State Senate	21	14	3	Democratic majority secured
State House	54	43	13	Democratic victory reported; available tally still short of a majority

Michigan Advance reported Wednesday morning that Democrats had reclaimed the House and retained the Senate. Its accompanying numerical totals were also incomplete, so that report supports the announced outcome but does not establish a final chamber split.

Democrats were reported to have won control of both chambers, but 54–43 should not be presented as the final House result.

Several completed district counts illustrated Democratic gains. In House District 27, Jaime Churches defeated Republican incumbent Rylee Linting, 23,113 votes to 21,472. In District 28, Sherry Berecz defeated Republican incumbent Jamie Thompson, 20,928 to 20,204, with all precincts reporting in both contests.

In District 15, covering the Dearborn-area contest, Democrat Jalal Abdallah defeated Republican Hassan Nehme, 26,203 votes to 9,970, according to the reported complete precinct count.

In the Senate, completed precinct returns showed Democrat Carol Glanville defeating Republican incumbent Mark Huizenga in District 30, 76,081 votes to 62,625. Democrat Sean Carlson also finished ahead of Republican Ryan Berman in District 13, 71,577 to 63,379.

All 13 congressional races: Democratic gains possible as three contests remain unresolved

Michigan’s congressional results combined comfortable incumbent victories with three closely watched contests in Republican-held districts.

The district-by-district results below identify projected winners and distinguish them from candidates who were leading while counting continued. Percentages are rounded to whole numbers for consistency.

District	Winner or leading candidate	Main opponent	Status
1	Jack Bergman, Republican — 54%	Callie Barr, Democrat — 44%	Bergman reelected
2	John Moolenaar, Republican — 61%	Ben Ambrose, Democrat — 37%	Moolenaar reelected
3	Hillary Scholten, Democrat — 57%	Terri DeBoer, Republican — 41%	Scholten reelected
4	Sean McCann, Democrat — 50%	Bill Huizenga, Republican — 48%	McCann leading; race uncalled
5	Tim Walberg, Republican — 59%	Christian Vukasovich, Democrat — 39%	Walberg reelected
6	Debbie Dingell, Democrat — 67%	Heather Smiley, Republican — 30%	Dingell reelected
7	William Lawrence, Democrat — 51%	Tom Barrett, Republican — 48%	Lawrence leading; race uncalled
8	Kristen McDonald Rivet, Democrat — 56%	Thomas Smith, Republican — 42%	McDonald Rivet reelected
9	Lisa McClain, Republican — 63%	Ray Pooley, Democrat — 35%	McClain reelected
10	Christina Bertrand Hines, Democrat — 52%	Michael Bouchard, Republican — 46%	Hines leading; race uncalled
11	Jeremy Moss, Democrat — 61%	Ethan Baker, Republican — 37%	Moss elected
12	Rashida Tlaib, Democrat — 76%	James Hooper, Republican — 21%	Tlaib reelected
13	Donavan McKinney, Democrat — 77%	T.P. Nykoriak, Republican — 20%	McKinney elected

The unresolved contests in the 4th, 7th and 10th districts carried the greatest implications for the delegation’s partisan balance. All three seats were held by Republicans entering the election.

Hines and Lawrence declared victory early Wednesday, but those announcements were separate from an Associated Press race call. McCann also led Huizenga in the returns reviewed, with that contest still unresolved. 

With six Democratic victories and four Republican victories established, those three remaining races would determine the final composition of Michigan’s delegation. If Democrats maintained their leads in all three, they would hold nine seats to Republicans’ four.

Cavanagh and Hood win Supreme Court seats

Michigan Supreme Court incumbents Megan Kathleen Cavanagh and Noah P. Hood won the two seats being contested, preserving the court’s 6–1 majority of Democratic-nominated justices. Supreme Court candidates appear without party labels on the general-election ballot, although parties nominate them.

With approximately 81% of the estimated vote counted, the supplied results showed:

Candidate	Votes	Share of votes cast
Megan Kathleen Cavanagh — elected	2,200,316	34.1%
Noah P. Hood — elected	1,900,716	29.5%
Michael Warren	885,413	13.7%
Casandra Morse-Bills	815,680	12.7%
Jody White	341,662	5.3%

Because voters could select two candidates, those percentages represent shares of candidate votes, rather than the percentage of individual voters supporting each justice. The supplied image does not display every candidate’s total.

Voters reject constitutional convention, approve campaign-finance proposal

Michigan voters overwhelmingly rejected Proposal 1, the question of calling a state constitutional convention. The results showed “no” receiving 3,067,673 votes, or 73.8%, against 1,090,520 votes, or 26.2%, for “yes.”

Proposal 2, described on the results graphic as restricting utility and contractor contributions and expanding campaign-finance disclosure rules, passed with 3,435,147 votes, or 81.1%. Opposition totaled 802,414 votes, or 18.9%.

The statewide executive victories, continued Democratic Senate control and reported House takeover point toward a substantial shift in governing power in Lansing. The remaining legislative and congressional counts will determine the size of the party’s gains.

Michigan Supreme Court: Judges Cannot Automatically Ban Legal Marijuana Use for Probationers

The Michigan Supreme Court has issued a unanimous ruling that could significantly change how probation is administered across the state, holding that judges cannot automatically prohibit probationers from using recreational marijuana that is legal under Michigan law simply because it remains illegal under federal law.

The decision came in the case of Danielle Heaven-Leah Hess, who was serving probation after pleading guilty to third-degree retail fraud. As part of her probation, Hess was ordered not to use marijuana. After testing positive twice, she argued that her marijuana use was lawful under Michigan's recreational marijuana law and should not subject her to additional penalties.

Lower courts rejected her argument, relying on a Michigan probation statute requiring probationers to obey federal law, where marijuana remains classified as an illegal controlled substance.

The Michigan Supreme Court disagreed.

In its opinion, the court concluded that the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act was enacted specifically to protect adults from state penalties for lawful recreational marijuana use. The justices ruled that those protections cannot be overridden simply by pointing to federal marijuana laws.

The ruling means judges may no longer impose blanket marijuana bans on probationers solely because cannabis remains illegal under federal law. Instead, any restrictions on marijuana use must be supported by legitimate case-specific reasons rather than a general reference to federal law.

The court stopped short of saying judges can never restrict marijuana use during probation. It noted that future cases may determine whether such restrictions are appropriate when tied to rehabilitation, substance abuse treatment, public safety concerns, or offenses involving marijuana.

Legal experts say the decision reinforces the growing divide between Michigan's marijuana laws and federal policy. Since voters legalized recreational cannabis in 2018, Michigan courts have continued to address how state legalization affects criminal justice proceedings.

The ruling is expected to influence probation practices throughout Michigan by requiring judges to evaluate marijuana restrictions on an individual basis rather than applying them automatically.

While the decision strengthens protections for adults legally using recreational marijuana under Michigan law, it also leaves unanswered questions that will likely be resolved through future court cases. Those decisions could further define when, if ever, marijuana use may still be limited as a condition of probation.