Michigan Voter Guide: Key Races

Michigan remains one of a handful of swing states in the Nov. 5 general election that will help determine who wins the presidency after what has been a remarkable political campaign. But the presidential race is far from the only race to be settled in the election. Those other races will help determine which party controls the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, the state Legislature and local offices and the Detroit Free Press will be keeping track of all of them.

U.S. President

This is, of course, the big one, the one consuming almost everyone's attention nationwide, with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris taking over as her party's nominee this summer and facing Republican former President Donald Trump. Harris is the first Black woman and first woman of South Asian descent to be a major party's presidential nominee. Trump, meanwhile, is representing his party for the third presidential election in a row. Expect this to be a close one, with vote counting to stretch beyond Election Day itself and Michigan — along with Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania (and maybe even North Carolina) — will play an oversized role in the outcome.

Michigan U.S. Senate

The big — and only — statewide race this fall beyond the campaign for U.S. president is for a rare open U.S. Senate seat created when the incumbent Democrat, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, decided early last year not to run for a fifth 6-year term. Three-term U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, of Holly, is representing the Democratic Party; former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, of Brighton, moved back to Michigan to represent the Republican Party. The last time a Senate seat was open in Michigan was in 2014. Republicans sense a chance to win this year but if they do, it will mark the first time since 1994 a Democrat has lost a U.S. Senate race in the state.

Michigan U.S. House

The state has 13 U.S. House seats to be decided on Nov. 5 but only a handful of those are expected to be competitive, starting with open seats in mid-Michigan and around the Flint-Saginaw-Bay City area. There is also expected to be a hotly contested race in the 10th District, anchored in Macomb County. Democrats hold the slightest edge in the current congressional delegation, with a 7-6 margin in U.S. House seats.

Michigan state House

All 110 seats in the Michigan House of Representatives are up as Democrats vie to keep control of both chambers after winning them for the first time in 40 years last cycle. For two years now, Democrats have controlled the governor's office, state House and state Senate. But they won the chambers in 2011 when Whitmer topped the ticket with an 11-point lead; a coattail-carrying margin at the top of the ticket that stands little chance of being replicated in the close presidential race. With the narrowest of margins — 56 Democrats to 54 Republicans — Democrats will need to hold onto every seat to win, and Republicans are making serious runs at flipping a handful of their existing seats to regain control of the chamber.

Other statewide races

These don't get the attention some of the other races do but they can play a huge role in how some of Michigan's most important institutions are run. Among these races are those to select members of the state Board of Education, which helps set policy for and manage the state's kindergarten-grade 12 schools; to elect state Supreme Court justices and judges for the state Court of Appeals; and to determine who will sit on the oversight boards for the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University.

Michigan county officials

The Nov. 5 general elections in Michigan also include a slew of races for countywide offices, including many in Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Voter Guide: Key Races