Lead

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and U.S. Rep. John James won their parties’ Aug. 4 gubernatorial primaries, setting up a November contest for the open seat left by term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the Detroit Free Press and ABC News reported.

On the Democratic side, Benson defeated Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson. On the Republican side, James, who carried a Trump endorsement, beat Bloomfield Hills businessman Perry Johnson. ABC News said James would be the first elected Black Republican governor in Michigan history if he wins in November.

NBC News Decision Desk figures, drawing on Associated Press vote data, showed Benson with about 83% of the Democratic vote with most expected ballots in, and James near 50% on the GOP side against Johnson and suspended candidate Mike Cox still appearing on the ballot.

Search interest for michigan primary sat at rank 4 on the 5 Aug 2026 Google Trends pull as overnight calls locked in the Benson-James governor matchup and the Democratic Senate nomination, with no other state-primary strings appearing beside it on that board.

Senate race

In the state’s highest-profile federal contest, NBC News projected that former public health official Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic U.S. Senate primary over Rep. Haley Stevens after a close overnight count. Bridge Michigan had described the race as too close to call around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday while Wayne County and other large jurisdictions were still reporting.

El-Sayed will face former Rep. Mike Rogers, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary, for the seat being vacated by Sen. Gary Peters. NBC News reported that El-Sayed overcame a large outside-spending advantage for Stevens, including support linked to AIPAC’s United Democracy Project, and that Gov. Whitmer had endorsed Stevens late in the race.

Down-ballot notes

The Free Press also reported progressive Will Lawrence winning the Democratic primary in U.S. House District 7, and Mike Bouchard taking the Republican primary in District 10, the seat James is leaving. The Michigan Secretary of State’s election results portal lists the August 2026 primary among statewide datasets as counties finish unofficial tallies.