This story is a part of a collection of state-by-state previews of the 2024 election.
Michigan might play a decisive position in a presidential election for the third consecutive time as its voters resolve aggressive races that would tip the steadiness of energy in each chambers of Congress in addition to the state Home of Representatives.
The state was certainly one of three presidential battlegrounds, together with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, that went narrowly for Republican Donald Trump in 2016 after virtually 30 years of supporting Democrats for president. 4 years later, Democrat Joe Biden gained all three states again for Democrats, with a margin in Michigan of about 154,000 votes out of greater than 5.5 million votes solid.
Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris have campaigned closely in pursuit of Michigan’s 15 electoral votes since changing into their events’ nominees, with a concentrate on vote-rich Detroit and its suburbs and Kent County within the west, dwelling of Grand Rapids and a key swing space of the state.
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Within the U.S. Senate, Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Republican Mike Rogers face off to switch Democratic incumbent Sen. Debbie Stabenow, whose resolution to retire after 5 phrases has turned what was as soon as a secure seat for Democrats right into a pick-up alternative for Republicans. Rogers, the previous Home Intelligence Committee chairman, was recruited out of retirement to enter the race, giving Michigan Republicans an opportunity to finish their 24-year drought in races for U.S. Senate.
Slotkin has stored her Lansing-area swing district in Democratic arms since her first election in 2018. Operating to switch her within the seventh Congressional District are Democrat Curtis Hertel and Republican Tom Barrett, each former state senators. Voters within the seventh District narrowly backed Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020. Within the eighth District, which incorporates Flint and Saginaw, Democrat Kristen McDonald Rivet and Republican Paul Junge are working to switch Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, who’s not searching for a seventh time period. McDonald Rivet is a state senator, whereas Junge is a former prosecutor and native information anchor who misplaced to Kildee in 2022.
Within the state Legislature, Democrats are defending the slender state Home majority they gained in 2022 and reclaimed in April after profitable particular elections to fill a pair of vacancies. All 110 state Home seats are up for election this yr. The state legislative marketing campaign organizations for each nationwide events have listed the Michigan state Home as certainly one of its prime priorities for November. Democrats additionally maintain a small majority within the state Senate, however these seats is not going to be up for election till 2026.
Right here’s a have a look at what to anticipate within the 2024 election in Michigan:
Election Day
Nov. 5.
Ballot closing time
8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET. Michigan covers two time zones, so many of the state will begin reporting outcomes whereas some voters within the Higher Peninsula are casting ballots till 9 p.m. ET.
Presidential electoral votes
15 awarded to statewide winner.
Key races and candidates
President: Harris (D) vs. Trump (R) vs. Chase Oliver (Libertarian) vs. Jill Stein (Inexperienced) vs. Randall Terry (U.S. Taxpayers Get together) v. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Pure Legislation Get together) vs. Joseph Kishore vs. Cornel West.
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U.S. Senate: Elissa Slotkin (D) vs. Mike Rogers (R) and 4 others.
seventh Congressional District: Curtis Hertel (D) vs. Tom Barrett (R) and one different.
eighth Congressional District: Kristen McDonald Rivet (D) vs. Paul Junge (R) and 4 others.
Different races of curiosity
U.S. Home, state Supreme Courtroom, state Home.
Determination Notes
A new legislation offers native elections officers extra time to course of and tabulate absentee mail ballots, which ought to assist alleviate the logjam that slowed poll counting within the 2020 presidential election.
Cities and cities with not less than 5,000 individuals might start processing and tabulating ballots as much as eight days earlier than Election Day, whereas smaller jurisdictions might start the morning earlier than Election Day.
In 2020, greater than 3.1 million voters solid their ballots by mail, about 56% of all ballots solid. State legislation on the time prevented election employees from opening the envelopes and making ready ballots for the rely till the night time earlier than Election Day. Trump took an early lead within the vote rely on election night time, however that lead started to erode in a single day and early Wednesday morning and Biden took the lead later that afternoon.
The legislation change might lead to a speedier launch of mail voting totals and will mitigate the so-called “red mirage” that Trump falsely claimed was proof of voter fraud in Michigan and in a handful of different key states.
A few of the key counties to observe in statewide Michigan elections are Wayne (dwelling to Detroit), Oakland, Macomb, Kent (dwelling to Grand Rapids), Genesee (dwelling to Flint), and Washtenaw (dwelling to Ann Arbor).
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The Related Press doesn’t make projections and can declare a winner solely when it has decided there isn’t any situation that may enable the trailing candidates to shut the hole. If a race has not been known as, the AP will proceed to cowl any newsworthy developments, reminiscent of candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will clarify that it has not but declared a winner and clarify why.
Recounts are computerized in statewide races in Michigan if the margin between the highest two candidates is 2,000 votes or fewer. Candidates might request and pay for a recount whatever the vote margin, and the state covers the price if the recount modifications the end result. State get together chairs might request recounts for state legislative races if the margin is fewer than 500 votes in state Senate races and fewer than 200 votes in state Home races. The AP might declare a winner in a race that’s eligible for a recount if it will probably decide the lead is just too massive for a recount or authorized problem to vary the end result. A new recount legislation signed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in July is not going to take impact till after the 2024 presidential election.
Though polls in many of the state shut at 8 p.m. ET, the AP is not going to name a winner earlier than the final polls have closed at 9 p.m. ET. Within the 2022 gubernatorial election, the AP had tabulated about 8% of the entire vote by the point that the final polls closed within the state.
Previous presidential outcomes
2020: Biden (D) 51%, Trump (R) 48%, AP race name: Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, 5:58 p.m. ET.
Voter registration and turnout
Registered voters: 8,437,177 (as of Oct. 17, 2024).
Voter turnout in 2020 presidential election: 68% of registered voters.
Pre-Election Day voting
Votes solid earlier than Election Day 2020: about 59% of the entire vote.
Votes solid earlier than Election Day 2022: about 42% of the entire vote.
Votes solid earlier than Election Day 2024: See AP Advance Vote tracker.
How lengthy does vote-counting take?
First votes reported, Nov. 2020: 8:08 p.m. ET.
By midnight ET: about 45% of whole votes solid have been reported.
