Michigan Secretary of State, Attorney General Candidates Are All Set for November 2026

We are all in a countdown to November 2026 for the midterm elections.

Still, we have to remember that these elections are not only on the national level, but also on the state and local levels, which are just as important.

In the state of Michigan, this will present an opportunity for us to represent and clean up what will (soon) be the past eight years of mismanagement by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D). Also, we have the opportunity to bring in new folks for the Michigan Attorney General and the Michigan Secretary of State seats, as they also came in eight years ago with the Governor and are termed out like she is.

I get in trouble for saying this every time that I do, but it is the God-honest truth. The state of Michigan, on its best day, which, if it so happens to be on Election Day, might be purple; otherwise, it's a blue one. I know that gets people upset in the Great Lake State, but the past 20 years prove that out with elections and data.

Michigan Voters Are Too Optimistic About How the State Is Doing Nationally, and It Makes Me Want to Move

So the importance of actually running a solid campaign statewide in 2026, with solid people running ,will happen to be important for the lead-up to the presidential race in 2028.

That is, if you care about the GOP winning the presidency in that cycle.

In his latest column at The Detroit News, Nolan Finley writes that the "Michigan GOP rejoices over Democratic choices," and I would agree with that sentiment.

Michigan Republicans could not be happier with the candidates Democrats selected at their nominating convention.
"They did us a favor," says Mike Cox, the former attorney general who is running for governor. "It creates a great contrast between their progressive nominees and our nominees, who just want to get things done."
Now, the state GOP believes it is much better positioned for the midterm election than it was prior to last weekend's Democratic gathering in Detroit. Progressive Democrats overwhelmed the convention and lifted their preferred candidates to the ballot.

I do believe that the Democrats in the state did give a huge pat on the back to the GOP for this cycle, and this is why. As the article linked above continues:

So instead of Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald as attorney general, they chose Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit. Savit has placed concern for criminals over the rights of victims and is the prototypical Soros-style progressive prosecutor.
Republicans were worried about McDonald, who they viewed as the Democrats' strongest statewide candidate because of the name she made for herself in the Oxford school shooting cases. Her appeal to the middle and fundraising skills would have made her a formidable candidate.

The Democrats' decision to pick Eli over Karen was actually a gift to the GOP.

Races for attorney general are usually as interesting as watching snow melt in April, but the Democrats' pick, I think, was actually a gift not only to the GOP, but to the state in general. Savit, who is progressive and does not run from the term, is currently the county prosecutor in Washtenaw, which is just a tad bit west of Detroit and Wayne County. One of the first things that Eli did when he assumed the office of county prosecutor was to eliminate cash bail, which made his county the first in Michigan to do that.

He will face off against fellow Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd, whom the GOP picked in March in their convention. This seems pretty easy to me, being Doug is not going to be portrayed as soft on crime like Eli will, which is going to be shown in his actions as Washtenaw prosecutor.

The race for secretary of state is one that I will follow a bit closely, since I had the pleasure of meeting GOP candidate Anthony Forlini many moons ago when he was a state representative. He is currently running against the current Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist, who originally was running to replace Gov Gretch, but switched to running for secretary of state.

Odd.

According to Mr. Finley at the Detroit News:

Gilchrist can be counted on to run hard to the left, based on his abandoned gubernatorial campaign, which featured a video of him dancing and lip-synching with progressive darling Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett of Texas. Based on his performance at the convention, he'll bring bluster and anger to the campaign.

Lip-synching with Jasmine Crockett should get you at least barred from any further consideration for public office, I would think.

There is no danger of anger with Mr Forlini, though. Anthony has actually been the Macomb County clerk since 2021, and has handled the very job he is running for in the state at the county level.

So, we have opportunities on the sensible side of the aisle to take two out of three statewide seats come this November. However, whether the GOP in the state can do that is the question currently.

We only have 194 days until November 3rd, 2026, so let's get ready.

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