2022 Michigan Attorney General election
← 2018 November 8, 2022 2026 →
 
Nominee Dana Nessel Matthew DePerno
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 2,329,195 1,952,408
Percentage 53.2% 44.6%
Nessel:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
DePerno:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Tie:      
Attorney General before election

Dana Nessel
Democratic

Elected Attorney General

Dana Nessel
Democratic

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The 2022 Michigan Attorney General election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the Attorney General of the state of Michigan. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel ran for re-election to a second term. She was first elected in 2018 with 49.0% of the vote.[1]

Michigan does not hold partisan primaries for statewide offices other than governor. Instead, the state parties hold conventions in August to nominate candidates for the general election. Party nomination conventions were held on April 9 for the Michigan Democratic Party and April 23 for the Michigan Republican Party.[2][3][4]

In August 2022, Reuters reported that presumptive Republican nominee Matthew DePerno "led a team that gained unauthorized access to voting equipment while hunting for evidence to support former President Donald Trump’s false election-fraud claims" following the 2020 election. Gaining unauthorized access to voting machines is a felony in Michigan. Current Michigan Attorney General Nessel is requesting the appointment of an independent specialist prosecutor to investigate DePerno and his team.[5] DePerno and former state representative Daire Rendon were indicted by a grand jury on August 1, 2023.[6]

This election also marked the first time since 1998 where Democrats had won consecutively, and the first since 1994 where an incumbent Democrat had won re-election. As well as also the best performance by a Democrat since 1998, and the worst performance by a Republican since 2002.

Democratic convention

Candidates

Nominee

Endorsements

Dana Nessel
Organizations
Labor unions

Republican convention

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated at convention

Endorsements

Matthew DePerno
U.S. Executive Branch officials
Organizations
Tom Leonard
Organizations

General election

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[19] Leans D November 3, 2022
Elections Daily[20] Leans D November 1, 2022

Endorsements

Dana Nessel (D)
U.S. Executive Branch officials
Organizations
Labor unions
Newspapers
Matthew DePerno (R)
U.S. Executive Branch officials
Organizations

Polling

Graphical summary
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Dana
Nessel (D) 		Matthew
DePerno (R) 		Other Undecided
Cygnal (R) November 1–4, 2022 1,603 (LV) ± 2.5% 48% 44% 3%[b] 6%
Mitchell Research November 3, 2022 658 (LV) ± 3.8% 47% 44% 1%[c] 8%
Cygnal (R) October 31 – November 2, 2022 1,754 (LV) ± 2.3% 47% 43% 3%[d] 7%
EPIC-MRA October 28 – November 1, 2022 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 48% 42% 3%[e] 7%
Cygnal (R) October 27–31, 2022 1,584 (LV) ± 2.5% 47% 42% 3%[f] 8%
Cygnal (R) October 25–29, 2022 1,543 (LV) ± 2.5% 47% 41% 4%[g] 8%
The Glengariff Group, Inc. October 26–28, 2022 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 44% 43% 5% 8%
Cygnal (R) October 23–27, 2022 1,822 (LV) ± 2.3% 46% 42% 4%[h] 8%
Cygnal (R) October 21–25, 2022 1,378 (LV) ± 2.6% 46% 43% 4%[i] 7%
Cygnal (R) October 19–23, 2022 1,459 (LV) ± 2.6% 45% 43% 3%[j] 8%
Cygnal (R) October 17–21, 2022 1,904 (LV) ± 2.3% 45% 42% 4%[k] 9%
Mitchell Research October 19, 2022 541 (LV) ± 4.2% 46% 43% 3%[l] 8%
Cygnal (R) October 15–19, 2022 1,793 (LV) ± 2.3% 45% 43% 4%[m] 9%
Cygnal (R)[A] October 12–14, 2022 640 (LV) ± 3.9% 45% 43% 3%[n] 8%
EPIC-MRA October 6–12, 2022 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 43% 39% 4%[o] 14%
The Glengariff Group, Inc. September 26–29, 2022 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 43% 30% 7%[p] 18%
The Trafalgar Group (R) September 24–28, 2022 1,075 (LV) ± 2.9% 48% 45% 3%[q] 4%
EPIC-MRA[B] September 15–19, 2022 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 48% 39% – 13%
EPIC-MRA[C] September 7–13, 2022 800 (LV) ± 3.5% 48% 40% 7%[r] 5%
The Trafalgar Group (R) August 22–25, 2022 1080 (LV) ± 2.9% 49% 47% – 4%
EPIC-MRA August 18–23, 2022 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 43% 39% – 18%
The Glengariff Group, Inc. July 5–8, 2022 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 44% 38% – 18%
Target Insyght May 26–27, 2022 600 (RV) ± 4.0% 54% 23% – 23%
EPIC-MRA May 11–17, 2022 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 43% 41% – 16%
ARW Strategies (R)[D] April 18–20, 2022 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 42% 41% – 17%
The Glengariff Group, Inc. January 3–7, 2022 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 44% 34% – 22%
Hypothetical polling
Dana Nessel vs. Tom Leonard
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Dana
Nessel (D) 		Tom
Leonard (R) 		Undecided
The Glengariff Group, Inc. January 3–7, 2022 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 42% 36% 23%

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of October 23, 2022
Candidate (party) Total receipts Total disbursements Cash on hand
Matthew DePerno (R) $1,128,796.58 $823,888.63 $304,907.95
Dana Nessel (D) $5,437,349.35 $5,192,193.84 $166,649.18
Source: Michigan Department of State[31]

Results

2022 Michigan Attorney General election[32]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Dana Nessel (incumbent) 2,329,195 53.16% +4.12%
Republican Matthew DePerno 1,952,408 44.56% -1.70%
Libertarian Joseph W. McHugh Jr. 67,846 1.55% -0.55%
Constitution Gerald T. Van Sickle 32,431 0.74% -0.18%
Total votes 4,381,880 100.0%
Democratic hold

Notes

  1. ^ a b Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. ^ "Third party candidate" with 3%
  3. ^ "Another candidate" with 1%
  4. ^ "Third party candidate" with 3%
  5. ^ McHugh (L) with 2%; Van Sickle (UTP) with 1%
  6. ^ "Third party candidate" with 3%
  7. ^ "Third party candidate" with 4%
  8. ^ "Third party candidate" with 4%
  9. ^ "Third party candidate" with 4%
  10. ^ "Third party candidate" with 3%
  11. ^ "Third party candidate" with 4%
  12. ^ "Another candidate" with 3%
  13. ^ "Third party candidate" with 4%
  14. ^ "Third party candidate" with 3%
  15. ^ McHugh (L) with 2%; Van Sickle (UTP) with 1%
  16. ^ McHuge with 4%; "Refused to answer" and Sickle with 2%; Hogan
  17. ^ "Other" with 3%
  18. ^ "Third party candidate" with 7%
Partisan clients
  1. ^ This poll was sponsored by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters
  2. ^ Poll conducted for WJRT-TV and the Detroit Free Press.
  3. ^ Poll conducted for MIRS, Governmental Consultant Services Inc., and the Life Insurance Association of Michigan.
  4. ^ Poll sponsored by DePerno's campaign

References

  1. ^ "2018 Michigan Official General Election Results - 11/06/2018".
  2. ^ "2022 Election Dates Booklet" (PDF). Michigan Secretary of State. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  3. ^ Mauger, Craig (August 16, 2021). "Michigan GOP sets early convention, declines vote by hand count". The Detroit News. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c White, Rose (April 9, 2022). "Jocelyn Benson, Dana Nessel, others snag endorsements from the Michigan Democratic Party". www.mlive.com. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  5. ^ Layne, Nathan (August 8, 2022). "Exclusive: Trump-backed Michigan attorney general candidate involved in voting-system breach, documents show". Reuters. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  6. ^ Jordyn Hermani; Simon Schuster (August 1, 2023). "DePerno, Rendon charged for role in Michigan tabulator probe". MLive.
  7. ^ "Prominent 2020 Election Critic Announces Run for Michigan AG". The State AG Report. July 22, 2021.
  8. ^ "Democracy for America : Our Candidates". Democracy for America. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Giffords Endorses Five Gun Safety Champion Attorneys General". Giffords. May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  10. ^ a b "NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses Reproductive Freedom Champions for Attorney General in Colorado, Michigan, and Wisconsin" (25 January 2022). www.prochoiceamerica.org. NARAL Pro-Choice America. January 25, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Sutton, Dana (January 25, 2022). "AFT Michigan Endorses Whitmer, Benson and Nessel in 2022 Midterms". AFT Michigan. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
  12. ^ Burns, Gus (July 15, 2021). "Attorney accused of pushing false election fraud claims wants to be Michigan's next attorney general". mlive.com.
  13. ^ Mauger, Craig (August 11, 2021). "Michigan Rep. Ryan Berman announces campaign for attorney general". The Detroit News.
  14. ^ "Former GOP House Speaker Tom Leonard to make second bid for state attorney general". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  15. ^ LaBlanc, Beth; Mauger, Craig (September 16, 2021). "Trump endorses election challenger DePerno for Michigan attorney general". The Detroit News.
  16. ^ Mauger, Craig (April 23, 2022). "AFT DePerno wins GOP attorney general race after runoff; Karamo wins SOS endorsement". The Detroit News. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  17. ^ Mauger, Craig (December 13, 2021). "Right to Life issues early endorsement for Michigan attorney general". The Detroit News. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  18. ^ "The MFCR is proud to endorse Tom Leonard for Michigan Attorney General because he has what it takes to defeat Dana Nessel in November".
  19. ^ "Secretary of State and Attorney General: What to Watch for Next Week in Key Statewide Contests". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 3, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  20. ^ Solomon, Zack (November 7, 2022). "Elections Daily Secretary of State Ratings". Elections Daily. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  21. ^ "Obama rallies with Michigan Dems, boosting Whitmer and mocking Dixon". October 29, 2022.
  22. ^ "Pete Buttigieg 1-on-1 talks about his support for Gov Whitmer on campaign trial". November 4, 2022.
  23. ^ "Endorsements – AAPAC". Archived from the original on March 22, 2023.
  24. ^ "Our Candidates". democracyforamerica.com. Democracy for America.
  25. ^ Saccone, Mike (July 12, 2022). "National Wildlife Federation Action Fund Endorses Whitmer, Nessel, Benson for Re-Election". National Wildlife Federation.
  26. ^ "Human Rights Campaign Endorses Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for Reelection". Human Rights Campaign. August 26, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  27. ^ "Here are all Detroit Free Press endorsements for 2022 general election". Detroit Free Press. October 19, 2022. Archived from the original on October 19, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  28. ^ "From the Daily: Endorsements for the 2022 Michigan midterms". November 2022.
  29. ^ LaBlanc, Beth; Mauger, Craig (September 16, 2021). "Trump endorses election challenger DePerno for Michigan attorney general". The Detroit News.
  30. ^ Mauger, Craig (April 23, 2022). "AFT DePerno wins GOP attorney general race after runoff; Karamo wins SOS endorsement". The Detroit News. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  31. ^ "Campaign finance data". Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  32. ^ "2022 Michigan Election Results". Michigan Election Results.

External links

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