Politics of Michigan
| Year | Republican / Whig | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1836 | 5,545 | 43.78% | 7,122 | 56.22% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1840 | 22,933 | 51.71% | 21,096 | 47.57% | 321 | 0.72% |
| 1844 | 24,375 | 43.72% | 27,737 | 49.75% | 3,639 | 6.53% |
| 1848 | 23,947 | 36.80% | 30,742 | 47.24% | 10,393 | 15.97% |
| 1852 | 33,860 | 40.83% | 41,842 | 50.45% | 7,237 | 8.73% |
| 1856 | 71,762 | 57.15% | 52,139 | 41.52% | 1,660 | 1.32% |
| 1860 | 88,450 | 57.23% | 64,889 | 41.99% | 1,210 | 0.78% |
| 1864 | 79,149 | 53.60% | 68,513 | 46.40% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1868 | 128,560 | 56.98% | 97,060 | 43.02% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1872 | 138,758 | 62.66% | 78,551 | 35.47% | 4,146 | 1.87% |
| 1876 | 166,901 | 52.41% | 141,685 | 44.49% | 9,864 | 3.10% |
| 1880 | 185,335 | 52.49% | 131,597 | 37.27% | 36,147 | 10.24% |
| 1884 | 192,669 | 48.02% | 189,361 | 47.20% | 19,156 | 4.77% |
| 1888 | 236,387 | 49.73% | 213,469 | 44.91% | 25,500 | 5.36% |
| 1892 | 222,708 | 47.79% | 201,624 | 43.26% | 41,713 | 8.95% |
| 1896 | 293,336 | 53.77% | 237,166 | 43.47% | 15,083 | 2.76% |
| 1900 | 316,269 | 58.10% | 211,685 | 38.89% | 16,425 | 3.02% |
| 1904 | 364,957 | 69.51% | 135,392 | 25.79% | 24,678 | 4.70% |
| 1908 | 335,580 | 61.93% | 175,771 | 32.44% | 30,479 | 5.63% |
| 1912 | 152,244 | 27.63% | 150,751 | 27.36% | 247,981 | 45.01% |
| 1916 | 339,097 | 52.09% | 286,775 | 44.05% | 25,101 | 3.86% |
| 1920 | 762,865 | 72.76% | 233,450 | 22.27% | 52,096 | 4.97% |
| 1924 | 874,631 | 75.37% | 152,359 | 13.13% | 133,429 | 11.50% |
| 1928 | 965,396 | 70.36% | 396,762 | 28.92% | 9,924 | 0.72% |
| 1932 | 739,894 | 44.44% | 871,700 | 52.36% | 53,171 | 3.19% |
| 1936 | 699,733 | 38.76% | 1,016,794 | 56.33% | 88,571 | 4.91% |
| 1940 | 1,039,917 | 49.85% | 1,032,991 | 49.52% | 13,021 | 0.62% |
| 1944 | 1,084,423 | 49.18% | 1,106,899 | 50.19% | 13,901 | 0.63% |
| 1948 | 1,038,595 | 49.23% | 1,003,448 | 47.57% | 67,566 | 3.20% |
| 1952 | 1,551,529 | 55.44% | 1,230,657 | 43.97% | 16,406 | 0.59% |
| 1956 | 1,713,647 | 55.63% | 1,359,898 | 44.15% | 6,923 | 0.22% |
| 1960 | 1,620,428 | 48.84% | 1,687,269 | 50.85% | 10,400 | 0.31% |
| 1964 | 1,060,152 | 33.10% | 2,136,615 | 66.70% | 6,335 | 0.20% |
| 1968 | 1,370,665 | 41.46% | 1,593,082 | 48.18% | 342,503 | 10.36% |
| 1972 | 1,961,721 | 56.20% | 1,459,435 | 41.81% | 69,169 | 1.98% |
| 1976 | 1,893,742 | 51.83% | 1,696,714 | 46.44% | 63,293 | 1.73% |
| 1980 | 1,915,225 | 48.99% | 1,661,532 | 42.50% | 332,968 | 8.52% |
| 1984 | 2,251,571 | 59.23% | 1,529,638 | 40.24% | 20,449 | 0.54% |
| 1988 | 1,965,486 | 53.57% | 1,675,783 | 45.67% | 27,889 | 0.76% |
| 1992 | 1,554,940 | 36.38% | 1,871,182 | 43.77% | 848,551 | 19.85% |
| 1996 | 1,481,212 | 38.48% | 1,989,653 | 51.69% | 377,979 | 9.82% |
| 2000 | 1,953,139 | 46.14% | 2,170,418 | 51.28% | 109,154 | 2.58% |
| 2004 | 2,313,746 | 47.81% | 2,479,183 | 51.23% | 46,323 | 0.96% |
| 2008 | 2,048,639 | 40.89% | 2,872,579 | 57.33% | 89,388 | 1.78% |
| 2012 | 2,115,256 | 44.58% | 2,564,569 | 54.04% | 65,491 | 1.38% |
| 2016 | 2,279,543 | 47.25% | 2,268,839 | 47.03% | 276,160 | 5.72% |
| 2020 | 2,649,864 | 47.77% | 2,804,045 | 50.55% | 93,277 | 1.68% |
| 2024 | 2,816,636 | 49.63% | 2,736,533 | 48.22% | 121,674 | 2.14% |
The politics of Michigan, a swing state in presidential elections, are closely contested. Until 2016, Michigan was considered part of the Democrats' "Blue Wall." Governors since the 1970s have alternated between the two parties, and statewide offices including attorney general, secretary of state, and senator have been held by members of both parties in varying proportions, though the state currently is represented by two Democratic U.S. Senators and Democrats hold every statewide office. The Michigan Legislature is currently split between the two parties, with Democrats holding a 20–18 majority in the Senate and the Republicans holding a 58–52 majority in the House of Representatives. The state's congressional delegation is commonly split, with one party or the other typically holding a narrow majority: Republicans currently have a 7–6 majority, in the ongoing 119th Congress.
The state has historically been a bellwether, having voted for the national winner all but six times since 1920, with the exceptions of 1940, 1948, 1968, 1976, 2000, and 2004. It currently has the longest active bellwether streak, tied with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, going back to the 2008 election. Prior to being a swing state, it was a Republican stronghold, voting Republican all but once from the founding of the GOP in 1854 until 1928, with the lone exception being a Progressive victory in 1912.
Republican strongholds of the state include the rural areas in Western and Northern Michigan, the Upper Peninsula, Livingston County, and (historically) the outer suburbs of Grand Rapids although redistricting after the 2020 census and shifting demographics has led many political observers to call the Grand Rapids suburbs a "toss-up" in future elections. Areas of Democratic strength include the cities of Detroit, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Flint, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and Muskegon, as well as many of those cities' inner-ring suburbs. Much of suburban Detroit—which includes parts of Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne counties—is politically competitive between the two parties.