Poll shows Democrats lead in Michigan governor, Senate

ourmidland.com · Dave Clark · September 5, 2026

# Poll shows Democrats lead in Michigan governor, Senate

Author: Dave Clark Published: 2026-09-05T13:00:00+00:00 Source: ourmidland.com (ourmidland.com) Language: en

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Poll shows Democrats lead in Michigan governor, Senate

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# POLITICS: Poll shows Democrats lead in Michigan governor, Senate

By Dave Clark, EditorSep 5, 2026

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Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson before the GOTV Community Rally on Aug. 1, 2026 in Detroit.

Finn Gomez/Getty Images

A new Michigan State University survey shows Democrats leading in two of Michigan’s highest-profile 2026 races, adding to a series of recent polls that have shown similar advantages for the party’s nominees for governor and U.S. Senate.

According to results released Sept. 1 by MSU’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson of Detroit leads U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township in the race for governor, 52% to 43% among likely voters.

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The Detroit Free Press reported that in the contest for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, former Wayne County and Detroit health director Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor leads former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake, 50% to 45%.

The findings come from MSU’s State of the State Survey, a long-running public opinion project that has been conducted continuously since 1994. Interviews were conducted Aug. 10-20 by MSU’s Office of Survey Research and IPPSR using a YouGov online panel designed to match a representative sample of Michigan’s population. The survey included 1,000 Michigan adults, 913 registered voters and 779 likely voters.

IPPSR said the margin of error for the likely voter sample is expected to be plus or minus 4 percentage points when compared with similar-sized general population surveys. The institute did not release all data tied to the broader survey, which includes multiple questions, but said it typically makes additional results available later.

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The MSU poll follows an EPIC-MRA survey released over the weekend that also showed Benson and El-Sayed ahead. That poll found each Democrat leading by 4 percentage points after interviews with 600 likely voters Aug. 22-28. Its margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

## U.S. Supreme Court weighs Michigan citizenship voting proposal

A proposed Michigan constitutional amendment requiring voters to prove their U.S. citizenship remained in legal limbo this week as supporters asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene before the state finalizes its Nov. 3 ballot.

According to Bridge Michigan, Americans for Citizen Voting is seeking an emergency injunction ordering state officials to place the proposal on the ballot after the bipartisan Board of State Canvassers deadlocked 2-2 on certification Aug. 24. The Michigan Supreme Court also has been asked to intervene but had not ruled as of Sept. 2.

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The group submitted more than 709,000 petition signatures in March and needed 446,198 valid signatures.

A Michigan Bureau of Elections review of a 1,000-signature sample initially found 612 valid signatures. After challenges and affidavits, supporters persuaded canvassers that at least 626 should count, still short of the 629 needed under the state’s sampling formula.

Americans for Citizen Voting asked U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh for emergency relief, arguing that further delay could prevent the measure from reaching voters. Kavanaugh directed the Board of State Canvassers, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Elections Director Jonathan Brater to respond.

Attorney General Dana Nessel, representing the state officials, urged the court to reject the request, calling the proposed injunction highly unusual and arguing that supporters had not adequately addressed the number of signatures state officials found invalid.

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The dispute also has drawn scrutiny from Michigan House Republicans. House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, announced a seven-member select committee to investigate the petition review process, arguing Republican-backed ballot efforts face inconsistent treatment. State election officials disputed that characterization and said the same sampling procedures have been used for decades.

If approved by voters, the amendment would require new voters to prove citizenship when registering and could require existing voters to do so if the state could not independently verify their status.

## Audit finds Michigan voter roll largely accurate, flags limited errors

An independent audit of Michigan’s voter registration system found the state maintains accurate voter records, while identifying a comparatively small number of registrations involving possible noncitizens, deceased voters and questionable birthdates.

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According to Votebeat, reporting published by Bridge Michigan, the Office of the Auditor General found 99.99% of the roughly 8.3 million voters in Michigan’s Qualified Voter File had complete and valid personal information required under state law. The audit also found state and local election officials regularly update the rolls, with nearly 1 million registrations canceled for permissible reasons between Jan. 1, 2022, and March 30, 2026.

The review found 403 registrations were rejected or canceled for citizenship-related reasons during that period. Those cases included people who indicated on registration forms that they were not citizens, along with applicants whose citizenship could not be confirmed. Another 347 registrations were canceled because a voter had “registered in error,” although the audit did not specify how many of those involved citizenship.

The report did not determine whether registrants flagged as potential noncitizens had cast ballots.

Separately, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced charges in August against five noncitizens accused of voting illegally in the 2024 election.

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Auditors also examined ballots linked to people listed as deceased before Election Day. They identified 2,582 such ballots since 2022, but 2,561 were early or absentee ballots cast by voters who died within 40 days before the election. Michigan law requires officials to make a best effort to reject absentee ballots when they learn a voter died before Election Day, although reporting delays can complicate that process.

The audit additionally found 653 registered voters with birthdates indicating they were older than 122 and 73 younger than 17½. The Department of State said some records may reflect data-entry errors or placeholder birth years used when older paper records were converted to electronic files.

Auditors also discovered that state reports had overstated automatic voter registrations linked to driver’s licenses and state IDs. The department said the problem involved a reporting script rather than the underlying voter data and has since corrected it.

## MSU gave sports tickets to lawmakers, aides and state officials

Michigan State University offered football and basketball tickets to more than 100 lawmakers, legislative aides, budget analysts and state government officials over a one-year period, raising questions about compliance with Michigan’s restrictions on gifts from lobbyists.

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According to The Detroit News, internal university emails showed that basketball tickets were commonly offered with

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