Michigan voters reject constitutional convention, cap utility donations

The Associated Press projected at 9:50 p.m. on Tuesday that Michiganders approved Proposal 2, a citizen-led initiative to limit campaign contributions from regulated utilities and government contractors. The AP simultaneously projected that Proposal 1 failed, meaning voters declined to convene a constitutional convention. That measure appears on the ballot every 16 years and requires a majority vote to proceed.

In the U.S. Senate, the AP projected that Democrats will take control of the chamber. The Michigan seat between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers remained undecided at 11:38 p.m., with 36.3% of votes counted. El-Sayed held 50.39% of the tallied votes against Rogers' 47.72% at that hour.

House results came in throughout the evening. The AP projected that Republican Tim Walberg won re-election in Michigan's Fifth District at 11:12 p.m. In the 9th District, Republican Lisa McClain secured her seat at 11:45 p.m. On the Democratic side, Rashida Tlaib retained the 12th District, Debbie Dingell kept the 6th District, and John Moolenaar held the 2nd District. Donavan McKinney won the 13th District after defeating incumbent Shri Thanedar in the primary.

Election officials reported strong turnout with fast-moving lines. The Michigan Secretary of State's Office stated that 2,190,252 absentee ballots were requested and 1,807,696 were returned as of 5:30 p.m., representing 86% of requests. Same-day registrations totaled 5,728 by 3 p.m., a lower figure than the 15,737 recorded in 2022 and 21,882 in 2024.

A bomb threat caused a temporary disruption at Gibraltar-Carlson High School in Wayne County. Police from Brownstown Township, Gibraltar, and the Wayne County Sheriff's Office evacuated the building and conducted a sweep. Voting moved outside during the search, and officials later confirmed the threat was unfounded. The clerk set up an alternate site to minimize impact on voters.

Disagreements emerged between Department of Justice monitors and local poll workers. The Secretary of State's Office reported that monitors in Dearborn and Flint acted outside their scope by requesting training materials and questioning poll workers. State law allows monitors to contact only the precinct captain and observe the process. The DOJ liaison said the actions were not part of their training and planned to follow up with the monitors.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. across most of the state. Voters in line at that time were permitted to cast their ballots. The election covered races for governor, the state house, the state senate, and multiple federal districts.