Michigan Attorney General Election: 2026 Winner

Michigan voters will pick new occupants for two open statewide offices in 2026, as Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson are term-limited. For attorney general, Washtenaw County prosecutor Eli Savit (D), known for progressive criminal justice reforms, faces Eaton County prosecutor Doug Lloyd (R), who favors a more traditional approach and has criticized Nessel's record. For secretary of state, Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II (D) is running on election security and expanded voter access, against Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini (R), who emphasizes election integrity and voter roll accuracy. Both races will shape election administration and legal enforcement in a key swing state.

Michigan voters head to the polls Nov. 3, with early voting running through Nov. 1. Top of the ballot: an open U.S. Senate seat pitting Democrat Abdul El-Sayed against Republican Mike Rogers, and a governor's race to succeed term-limited Gretchen Whitmer, featuring Democrat Jocelyn Benson against Republican John James. Down-ballot contests include attorney general (Eli Savit vs. Doug Lloyd) and secretary of state (Garlin Gilchrist II vs. Anthony Forlini), plus two statewide proposals — one on calling a constitutional convention, another limiting corporate political contributions.

Detroit voters also pick five school board members, and Wayne and Oakland counties weigh a museum funding millage.

Michigan election officials are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to deny an emergency request from Americans for Citizen Voting - Michigan (ACVM), which is seeking to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot requiring proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote. The state Board of Canvassers deadlocked on Aug. 24 over disputed signatures, leaving the measure three short of the roughly 446,198 required, despite the group submitting over 709,000 signatures. ACVM sued in state court, then appealed to Justice Brett Kavanaugh after the Michigan Supreme Court did not act, arguing due process and equal protection violations and seeking a ruling before the Sept. 4 deadline for finalizing ballot language.

Attorney General Dana Nessel and Solicitor General Ann Sherman called the application "highly unusual" and "sorely lacking in factual bases and legal substance," arguing no state court has yet ruled and that the state followed its standard review timeline. They asked the Supreme Court to deny the request.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-2 unsigned order, declined to disturb a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of a new U.S. Postal Service rule ahead of the 2026 midterms, drawing praise from officials in Michigan, Illinois, Colorado, and other states. The rule, issued after a March executive order from President Trump, would have required states to submit lists of mail-eligible voters and adopt standardized, trackable envelopes, with USPS withholding delivery of noncompliant ballots. The court said the government was unlikely to succeed on the merits given the midterms' proximity; Justices Alito and Thomas dissented, while Kavanaugh agreed the restrictions should not take effect for this election but suggested the government's underlying arguments could be reconsidered if similar rules were proposed earlier for a future election.

Michigan and 24 other states, including Illinois, sued within hours of the rule's publication, leading to a restraining order and then a Sept. 4 injunction that the high court left intact. Officials in Michigan, Illinois, and Colorado called the ruling a win for state authority over elections, while Trump denounced the decision on social media, criticizing the justices he appointed. The court did not rule on the rule's underlying legality, leaving that fight to continue in lower courts; existing mail-ballot processes remain unchanged as states begin distributing ballots for November. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the ruling turned partly on timing and that election-security efforts would continue beyond this cycle. In North Carolina, postal workers and union leaders have publicly defended mail-in voting's integrity amid ongoing fraud claims, as absentee voting proceeds under established security measures.

Hillsdale County Sheriff Scott Hodshire, 59, faces two felony charges — obstruction of justice and misconduct in office — filed by the Michigan Attorney General's Office. The case stems from a Feb. 18 incident in which Hodshire allegedly disclosed confidential information about an active investigation, tipping off a theft suspect and his parents that a Williams County, Ohio, sheriff's office had a search warrant and planned to search the family's property. Testimony from Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Travis Pohl at an Aug. 31 probable cause hearing indicated phone records show Hodshire called the suspect's parents and later the suspect himself before Ohio investigators executed the warrant.

Hodshire was arraigned Sept. 2 and released on bond; each charge carries up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. A probable cause conference is scheduled for Sept. 30 in Jackson. Hodshire has denied wrongdoing, saying he was assisting an out-of-state agency as a courtesy and did nothing to interfere with the investigation. First elected in 2020 and reelected in 2024, he says he intends to remain in office in full capacity, and county commissioners have voiced support, though they lack authority to remove him.

A Clare County, Michigan couple, Gregory Hite and Bridget Bureau, both 41, was bound over to circuit court on felony charges tied to an alleged scheme that used a local excavation company's identity to fraudulently finance and resell $2 million in equipment and vehicles. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office said the pair obtained financing for 44 pieces of equipment, resold them without titles, and filed false tax returns for 2019 through 2024. Hite faces charges including conducting a criminal enterprise, identity theft, and false pretenses; Bureau faces 10 charges. Conducting a criminal enterprise carries up to 20 years in prison. The case is pending in the 55th Circuit Court.

Jonathan Sipes, 36, a corrections officer at Gus Harrison Correctional Facility in Adrian, Michigan, was arraigned in Lenawee County on one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of aggravated indecent exposure, the Michigan Attorney General's office announced.

Authorities allege Sipes assaulted or exposed himself to a fellow corrections officer on multiple occasions during 2024 and 2025, both inside the facility and in its parking lot, including an incident in November 2025 that prompted the victim to report the conduct and prior incidents to the Michigan Department of Corrections. The department referred the matter to Michigan State Police, which investigated before charges were filed. Attorney General Dana Nessel said the alleged abuse by a fellow officer is "heinous and unacceptable." A probable cause conference and bond hearing are set for Oct. 7, with a preliminary examination scheduled for Oct. 14.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel released a 101-page report Tuesday closing out the state's long-running Flint water crisis investigation, calling it the final accountability step her office can take. Charges had been brought against nine current and former officials, including former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, but a 2022 Michigan Supreme Court ruling threw out the cases after finding the one-judge grand jury process used to indict them was unlawful. No one was ever convicted. Nessel, who inherited the probe in 2019 and was not involved in the criminal cases, defended prosecutors' strategy and questioned the political implications of a ruling joined by three Snyder-appointed justices.

Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley said residents "deserved accountability" and answers they will now never get in court. The 2014 crisis began when the city switched its water source to the Flint River to cut costs, causing lead to leach from aging pipes. It led to a $626 million settlement, roughly $170 million in federal aid, and citywide replacement of lead service lines, which Neeley said is now complete.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined 19 other states and Washington, D.C., in two lawsuits challenging Trump administration rules that narrow federal protections under the Endangered Species Act. The most significant change, taking effect this week, eliminates a decades-old definition under which damaging an animal's habitat could count as unlawful "harm" if it killed or injured protected wildlife by disrupting breeding, feeding or sheltering. That interpretation had been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1995; the administration argues the law should cover only actions directed at animals, not indirect habitat effects.

A second lawsuit targets rules ending automatic protections for newly listed threatened species and creating a process to exclude land from critical habitat designations. States argue the changes will delay protections and weaken habitat safeguards; federal officials call the prior approach regulatory overreach. Both suits, filed September 9 in federal court in Northern California, allege violations of the Endangered Species Act, Administrative Procedure Act and National Environmental Policy Act. Environmental groups filed separate challenges earlier this summer.