2018 Michigan Attorney General election

The 2018 Michigan Attorney General election took place on November 6, 2018, alongside elections to elect Michigan's governor, Class I United States Senator, Secretary of State, Michigan's 14 seats in the United States House of Representatives, all 38 seats in the Michigan Senate, and all 110 seats in the Michigan House of Representatives. Incumbent Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette was prohibited from seeking a third term due to term limits, and unsuccessfully ran for governor of Michigan instead. The Michigan GOP was unsuccessful in winning its 5th straight attorney general election. Along with the offices of lieutenant governor and secretary of sftate, the nominees for attorney general were chosen by party delegates at their respective party conventions.

2018 Michigan Attorney General Election

← 2014 November 6, 2018 (2018-11-06) 2022 →

Nominee Dana Nessel Tom Leonard Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,031,117 1,916,117 Percentage 49.04% 46.26%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Nessel:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Leonard:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Tie:      40–50%      No data

Attorney General before election Bill Schuette Republican Elected Attorney General Dana Nessel Democratic

Nessel defeated Leonard by 115,000 votes, becoming the first Democratic attorney general of Michigan since 2003, when Jennifer Granholm left office to become governor.

Republican Party

Candidates

Nominee

• Tom Leonard, speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives^[1]

Eliminated at convention

• Tonya Schuitmaker, state senator^[2]

Declined

• Mary Beth Kelly, former associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court (2011–2015)^[3]

Democratic Party

Candidates

Nominee

• Dana Nessel, civil rights attorney^[4]

Eliminated at convention

• Patrick Miles Jr., former United States Attorney for the Western District of Michigan (2012–2017)^[2][5]
• William Noakes, former Wayne County Deputy Corporation Counsel^[6]

Declined

• Steve Bieda, state senator (running for Congress)^[7]
• Tim Greimel, state representative and former minority leader of the Michigan House of Representatives (running for Congress)^[8]
• Eric Smith, Macomb County Prosecutor^[9]

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Tom Leonard (R)	Dana Nessel (D)	Other	Undecided
Glengariff Group[10]	October 25–27, 2018	600 (LV)	± 4.0%	34%	45%	5%[b]	17%
EPIC-MRA[11]	October 18–23, 2018	600 (LV)	± 4.0%	39%	39%	9%[c]	13%
Michigan State University[12]	October 13–22, 2018	169 (RV)	–	40%	37%	–	–
Marketing Resource Group[13]	October 14–18, 2018	600 (LV)	± 4.0%	34%	39%	10%[d]	16%
Glengariff Group[14]	September 30 – October 2, 2018	600 (LV)	± 4.0%	32%	39%	6%[e]	24%
EPIC-MRA[15]	September 21–25, 2018	600 (LV)	± 4.0%	32%	38%	11%[f]	19%
Glengariff Group[16]	September 5–7, 2018	600 (LV)	± 4.0%	29%	42%	5%	24%

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of October 21, 2018
Candidate (party)	Total receipts	Total disbursements	Cash on hand
Tom Leonard (R)	$1,988,558.29	$1,900,406.09	$88,152.20
Dana Nessel (D)	$1,573,966.91	$1,329,134.98	$244,831.93
Source: Michigan Department of State[17]

Results

Michigan Attorney General election, 2018^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Dana Nessel	2,031,117	49.04%	+4.85%
	Republican	Tom Leonard	1,916,117	46.26%	−5.81%
	Libertarian	Lisa Lane Giola	86,807	2.10%	+0.24%
	Independent	Chris Graveline	69,889	1.69%	N/A
	Constitution	Gerald Van Sickle	38,114	0.92%	−0.08%
Total votes			4,142,044	100.0%	N/A
	Democratic gain from Republican

By congressional district

Despite losing the state, Leonard won 9 of 14 congressional districts, including two that elected Democrats.^[19]

District	Leonard	Nessel	Representative
1st	56%	39%	Jack Bergman
2nd	56%	39%	Bill Huizenga
3rd	52%	43%	Justin Amash
4th	58%	36%	John Moolenaar
5th	44%	51%	Dan Kildee
6th	51%	44%	Fred Upton
7th	53%	42%	Tim Walberg
8th	49%	46%	Mike Bishop
			Elissa Slotkin
9th	40%	55%	Sander Levin
			Andy Levin
10th	60%	36%
			Paul Mitchell
11th	48.3%	48.0%	Dave Trott
			Haley Stevens
12th	32%	64%	Debbie Dingell
13th	17%	79%	Brenda Jones
			Rashida Tlaib
14th	19%	78%	Brenda Lawrence

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
2. Giola (L) with 3%; Van Sickle (UTP) with 1%; Graveline (I) with 1%
3. Giola (L) with 4%; "Other candidate" with 5%
4. "Someone else" with 6%; Giola (L) with 4%
5. Giola (L) with 4%; Graveline (I) with <1%
6. "Other party candidate" with 6%; Giola (L) with 5%