The 2018 United States Senate election in Michigan took place on November 6, 2018, in order to elect the Class 1

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from the State of Michigan, concurrently with a gubernatorial election, as well as other elections to the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow won reelection to a fourth term. On August 7, 2018, John James won the Republican nomination, defeating businessman Sandy Pensler. On May 5, 2018, Marcia Squier received the endorsement and nomination of the

Green Party of Michigan The Green Party of Michigan is a political party in Michigan. It is the state affiliate of the Green Party of the United States (GPUS). The party has had ballot access in Michigan since November 2000, when their presidential candidate, Ralph Nade ...

at the state convention in Flint. Stabenow was re-elected by a 6.5% margin and a difference of 275,660 votes, making this the second-closest U.S. Senate election in Michigan since Stabenow was first elected in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

* Debbie Stabenow, incumbent U.S. Senator

Declined

Mike Duggan Michael Edward Duggan (born July 15, 1958) is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician serving as the 75th mayor of Detroit, Michigan since 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, Duggan previously served as the Wayne County Prosecutor ...

, Mayor of Detroit

Withdrew

* Craig Allen Smith

Endorsements

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

* John James, businessman and Iraq veteran

Defeated in primary

* Sandy Pensler, Former Wayne County Commissioner, businessman and candidate for MI-08 in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

* Failed to qualify * Bob Carr, historic preservationist, businessman and nominee for MI-01 in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

Declined

* John Engler, former governor * Ted Nugent, musician and political activist (endorsed James) * Robert Ritchie, better known as musician Kid Rock (endorsed James) * Bill Schuette, Michigan Attorney General, former U.S. Representative and nominee for U.S. Senate in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

(ran for Governor) * Fred Upton, U.S. Representative

Withdrew

* Lena Epstein, businesswoman (running for MI-11) *

Robert P. Young Jr. Robert P. Young Jr. (born June 13, 1951) is a former justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. Young was first appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court in 1999, elected in 2000 and 2002, and again won reelection in 2010 for a term ending in 2019. Jus ...

, former Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court (endorsed John James)

Endorsements

Debates

A debate was held between John James and Sandy Pensler on July 6 and televised by WKAR-TV. It was the only televised debate scheduled between the two candidates.

Polling

Results

Green Party Convention

The

picked their candidates at a state convention on May 5, 2018.

Declared

* Marcia Squier, Green nominee for MI-14 in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Withdrew

* Anita Belle, activist

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 14, 2018

Fundraising

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

;with Sandy Pensler ;with generic Democrat and Republican ;with Robert Ritchie (a.k.a. Kid Rock)

Results

Although Stabenow ended up winning the election by 6.5 percent, the margin was smaller than expected, considering the polling and past results of Senate elections in Michigan. Part of the relative closeness of the race has been attributed to the Stabenow campaign having run no negative ads against James during the election. Although James won most of Michigan's smaller counties, Stabenow won large margins in urban areas and modest margins in suburban areas. Stabenow trounced James in Wayne County, home of Detroit, and also performed well in Detroit's suburbs. She also easily won in

Washtenaw County Washtenaw County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the population was 372,258. The county seat is Ann Arbor. The county was authorized by legislation in 1822 and organized as a county in 1826. Washtenaw ...

, home of

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

and Ingham County, home of Lansing. Kent County, home of

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

, also narrowly flipped to Stabenow, making this the first Senate election of her career in which she carried the county, and also the only county to flip her direction in 2018, and only the second time (after

Carl Levin Carl Milton Levin (June 28, 1934 – July 29, 2021) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Michigan from 1979 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the chair of the Senate Armed Services C ...

in 2008) a Democrat had carried the county since

Donald Riegle Donald Wayne Riegle Jr. (born February 4, 1938) is an American politician, author, and businessman from Michigan. He served for five terms as a United States House of Representatives, Representative and for three terms as a United States Senate, ...

in 1982. In addition to Stabenow's win, Democrats won the previously Republican-held offices of Governor, Secretary of State, and Attorney General, ensuring that as of January 1, 2019, all elected statewide officials would be Democrats. James once again ran unsuccessfully for the other Senate seat in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, as he was defeated by incumbent Gary Peters. James would later be elected as a Representative in Michigan's 10th congressional district in 2022.

Notes

;Partisan clients

References

External links

Candidates
at Vote Smart
Candidates
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Campaign finance
at FEC
Campaign finance
at OpenSecrets ;Official campaign websites
John James (R) for SenateDebbie Stabenow (D) for Senate

Marcia Squier (G) for Senate
{{2018 United States elections

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Michigan United States Senate