Thoughts on the 2026 General Election

Opening hook

Michigan has more on the ballot this year than almost any time in memory—governor, Senate, SOS, AG, every state House and Senate seat, plus local races and constitutional questions. Sitting it out hands the whole stack to people who have already made groceries, gas, and energy bills more expensive.

What happens if low-propensity voters stay home and Democrats win the top of the ticket?

• Higher costs stay locked in: state income tax remains, energy mandates keep pushing electric bills and auto prices up, and housing/regulatory costs keep squeezing working families
• A far-left Senate nominee (Abdul El-Sayed) becomes Michigan’s voice in Washington for six years – he has called for abolishing ICE, Medicare-for-All-style overhauls, and is likely tied to Islamist organizations and policies
• Auto and manufacturing jobs stay under pressure from federal and state rules that treat Michigan’s industrial base as the problem instead of the solution
• Public safety and schools stay on the current trajectory – Eli Savit as AG is soft on crime; education policies that many parents oppose
• Election administration stays in the same hands (Benson moving up, Gilchrist to SOS) with no new citizenship or list-maintenance requirements

What happens if low-propensity voters get out to vote and Republicans win the top of the ticket?

• Immediate pressure to cut the state income tax (John James has proposed a 25% first-year cut with a path to elimination)
• Energy and auto policy that treats reliable power and vehicle manufacturing as assets, not obstacles – lower bills and fewer plant-closure risks
• Tough-on-crime AG in Doug Lloyd, esp. enforcement of election security; an SOS (Anthony Forlini) who is more likely to champion election-security bills already blocked in the current split government (e.g. House Bill 4765 and House Bill 4720)
• School-choice emphasis at the state level
• A Senate vote (Mike Rogers) that aligns with border enforcement, manufacturing, and keeping Michigan from becoming a national experiment in the farthest-left wing of the Democratic Party
• Control of the legislature and the governor’s office lets Republicans pass the election-security and tax bills that have been bottled up

One-sentence closer

This year the entire state government is on the table. One skipped vote in November is a vote for more of the same on prices, jobs, and who runs the elections.