Michigan Gubernatorial Election, 2018 (The More Things Changed)

The 2018 Michigan gubernatorial election will be held on November 6th, 2018, to elect the next Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Michigan. Incumbent Governor Rick Snyder is term-limited from running for a third term in office. The election will be held concurrently with elections for other statewide offices.

The Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties will choose their nominees in a partisan primary on August 7th, 2018.

Declared

 * Brian Calley, Lieutenant Governor
 * Patrick Colbeck, state Senator
 * Joseph Derose, insurance agent
 * Jim Hines, physician and president of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations
 * Bill Schuette, Attorney General of Michigan
 * Candice Miller, Macomb County Public Works Commissioner and former U.S. Representative
 * Evan Space, businessman

Potential

 * Jase Bolger, former Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives
 * Larry C. Inman, state representative

Declined

 * David Agema, former Republican National Committeeman and former state representative - endorsed Patrick Colbeck
 * Ruth Johnson, Michigan Secretary of State and nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 2006 - running for state senate
 * Arlan Meekhof, Majority Leader of the Michigan Senate
 * Kid Rock, musician

Declared

 * Bill Cobbs, businessman
 * Shri Thanedar, entrepreneur
 * Gretchen Whitmer, former Minority Leader of the Michigan Senate
 * Geoffrey Fieger, attorney and nominee for governor in 1998
 * Bill Wild, Mayor of Westland

Potential

 * John Austin, former President of the Michigan Board of Education
 * Debbie Dingell, U.S. Representative since 2015
 * Mark Hackel, Macomb County Executive

Declined

 * Abdul El-Sayed, Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration since 2017
 * Mark Bernstein, member of University of Michigan Board of Regents
 * Mike Duggan, Mayor of Detroit since 2014
 * Dan Kildee, U.S. Representative since 2013
 * Andy Levin, energy consultant and son of Congressman Sander Levin - Running for Congress in MI-9
 * Barbara McQuade, Deputy Attorney General, former United States Attorney
 * Matt Simoncini, CEO of Lear Corporation

Declared

 * Kerry Bentivolio, U.S. Representative since 2013
 * Mary Buzuma, Libertarian nominee in 2014
 * Mark McFarlin, U.S. Taxpayers Party nominee in 2014

Potential

 * Andy LaCureaux, state representative
 * Triston Cole, state representative

Declined

 * Justin Amash, U.S. Representative since 2011 and Libertarian House Leader since 2017
 * Clifford Taylor, Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, 2005-2009 - Running for Attorney General
 * Michael J. Malik, Sr, businessman - Running for Congress in MI-11

General Election
The general election will be held on November 6th, 2018.

Education
A February 2017 study by University of Michigan professor Brian A. Jacob, of scores of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) found that Michigan students ranked worst in the nation when it comes to proficiency growth in the four measures of the exam - mathematics, reading, writing, and science.

Enbridge Line 5
Enbridge Line 5 is a major oil pipeline in the Enbridge Lakehead System, which carries petroleum from western Canada to eastern Canada via the Great Lakes states, passing under the environmentally sensitive Straits of Mackinac.

Line 5 has spilled 29 times and at least 1.1 million gallons along its length since 1968, including vessel activity in 2018 that damaged submerged electric cables, causing a leak of 550 gallons of benzene-containing coolant and causing three dents in the pipeline. Following the damage, Michigan's two Senators - Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow - said oil should not continue flowing through Enbridge Inc.'s Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac until it's certain the pipes are in adequate shape.

Flint Water Crisis
The Flint water crisis began in 2014 when the drinking water source for the city of Flint, Michigan was changed from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the cheaper Flint River. Due to insufficient water treatment, over 100,000 residents were potentially exposed to high levels of lead in the drinking water. After a pair of scientific studies proved lead contamination was present in the water supply, a federal state of emergency was declared in January 2016 and Flint residents were instructed to use only bottled or filtered water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and bathing. As of early 2017, the water quality had returned to acceptable levels; however, residents were instructed to continue to use bottled or filtered water until all the lead pipes have been replaced, which is expected to be completed no sooner than 2020.

Concurrent Elections
There are three other statewide elected offices will be contested concurrently.

Lieutenant Governor
Incumbent: Brian Calley (R) - Running for Governor

! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Nominees ! Votes ! % ! ± ! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Total ! ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| 100%
 * style="background-color:#0000ff;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Democratic
 * style="background-color:#ff0000;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Republican
 * style="background-color:#FED105;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Libertarian
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * style="text-align:left;" | Republican
 * style="background-color:#FED105;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Libertarian
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * style="background-color:#FED105;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Libertarian
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * }

Attorney General
Incumbent: Bill Schuette (R) - Running for Governor

! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Nominees ! Votes ! % ! ± ! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Total ! ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| 100%
 * style="background-color:#0000ff;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Democratic
 * style="background-color:#ff0000;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Republican
 * style="background-color:#FED105;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Libertarian
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * style="text-align:left;" | Republican
 * style="background-color:#FED105;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Libertarian
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * style="background-color:#FED105;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Libertarian
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * }

Secretary of State
Incumbent: Ruth Johnson (R) - Running for State Senate

! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Nominees ! Votes ! % ! ± ! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Total ! ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| 100%
 * style="background-color:#0000ff;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Democratic
 * style="background-color:#ff0000;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Republican
 * style="background-color:#FED105;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Libertarian
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * style="text-align:left;" | Republican
 * style="background-color:#FED105;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Libertarian
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * style="background-color:#FED105;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Libertarian
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * style="background-color:#eeeeee;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" | Other
 * }