The 2010 Michigan gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm and lieutenant governor John D. Cherry were prohibited by the state's Constitution from seeking a third term. This resulted in a large pool of candidates which was whittled down, when the May 11 filing deadline passed, to two Democrats and five Republicans. Both the Cook Political Report and the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report rated the election as leaning Republican.

The Republican primary race was highly competitive; both local and national polling reported Congressman Pete Hoekstra, state Attorney General Mike Cox, and businessman Rick Snyder as being front-runners for the Republican Party nomination. The Democratic front-runner when the 2009 polls were conducted, Lieutenant Governor John D. Cherry, withdrew from the race in January 2010. The final polls just days before the primary election showed that, while Lansing mayor Virg Bernero was in the lead, over a quarter of those polled were still undecided. The deadline for candidates to file nominating petitions for the August 3 state primary was 4:00 PM on May 11, 2010.

A total of 1,575,167 registered voters voted in the primaries, with 66.4% of them voting in the Republican primary. Analysts believe a large portion of Democrats crossed party lines to vote for Snyder, whose ad campaign targeted bipartisan and independent support. In Michigan, voters may vote in either primary regardless of their political affiliation, but can only vote for one party. Ballots with split tickets are not counted in partisan races. Both races came in more disparate than predicted. Snyder won with a near 10-point lead over closest rival Pete Hoekstra, and Bernero won with an even larger 17-point lead over early favorite state house speaker Andy Dillon. Both nominees portrayed themselves as political outsiders. On August 25, Snyder appointed State Representative Brian Calley as his running mate. On August 28, Bernero appointed Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence as his running mate.

Snyder won a decisive victory over Bernero in the general election, winning by nearly 20 percentage points. , this was the last time the counties of Ingham, Marquette, Eaton, Saginaw, Bay, and Muskegon voted for the Republican candidate.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared Virg Bernero, Mayor of Lansing Andy Dillon, Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives

Withdrew Robert Bowman, former Michigan treasurer (ended exploratory bid on February 15, 2010) John D. Cherry, Lieutenant Governor (ended exploratory bid on January 5, 2010) Hansen Clarke, member of the Michigan SenateState Sen. Hansen Clarke drops out of governor's race, Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau, published January 15, 2010 (ended bid on January 15, 2010; ran for Congress instead) John Freeman, former member of the Michigan House of RepresentativesFreeman out of gov's race, Bowman may be interested, Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau, published January 12, 2010 (ended bid on January 11, 2010) Dan Kildee, former Genesee County Treasurer (ended exploratory bid on March 5, 2010) Alma Wheeler Smith, member of the Michigan House of Representatives (ended exploratory bid on May 10, 2010) Geoffrey Fieger, attorney and nominee for governor in 1998

Endorsements

Polling Poll source Dates administered John D. Cherry Andy Dillon George Perles John Freeman Alma Wheeler Smith Dan Kildee Virg BerneroEPIC-MRAEPIC-MRA July 28, 2010 -- 32% -- -- -- -- 40%EPIC-MRAEPIC-MRA June 12–15, 2010 -- 34% -- -- -- -- 24%Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling May 25–27, 2010 -- 23% -- -- -- -- 26%EPIC-MRAEPIC-MRA May 22–26, 2010 -- 29% -- -- -- -- 23%Rasmussen ReportsRasmussen Reports April 22, 2010 -- 13% -- -- 9% -- 12%Rasmussen Reports March 24, 2010 -- 12% -- -- 10% -- 8%Denno-Noor ResearchDenno-Noor Research March 3–5, 2010 -- 13% -- -- 6% 6% 11%EPIC-MRAEPIC-MRA February 22–25, 2010 -- 17% -- -- 7% 12% 8%Detroit Free PressDetroit Free Press November 12–17, 2009 20% 6% 6% 2% 2% -- --EPIC-MRAEPIC-MRA October 11–15, 2009 33% -- 3% 2% 5% -- --Marketing Resource GroupMarketing Resource Group September 12–20, 2009 40%---- 9% 8% -- --

Debate + 2010 Michigan gubernatorial election democratic primary debate Date Host Moderator Link Democratic DemocraticKey: Participant  Absent  Not invited  Invited Withdrawn Virg Bernero Andy Dillon1 Jun. 21, 2010 WOOD-TV Suzanne GehaBrian Sterling C-SPAN

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared Mike Bouchard, Sheriff of Oakland County and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2006 Mike Cox, Michigan Attorney General Tom George, state senator Pete Hoekstra, U.S. representative Rick Snyder, businessman

Withdrew David Kniffen, businessman Terri Lynn Land, Michigan Secretary of State (became Bouchard's running mate) Tim Rujan, Huron County Commissioner (failed to qualify)

Polling Poll source Dates administered Mike Cox Pete Hoekstra Mike Bouchard Rick Snyder Tom George David KniffenEPIC-MRAEPIC-MRA July 29, 2010 24% 23% 10% 26% 1% --Detroit News 4/WDIVDetroit News 4/WDIV July 18, 2010 26.4% 25.6% 11.6% 20.2% 1.8% --EPIC-MRA June 12–15, 2010 26% 24% 16% 20% 2% --Public Policy Polling May 25–27, 2010 17% 19% 15% 20% 9% --EPIC-MRA May 22–26, 2010 18% 30% 16% 17% 2% --Rasmussen ReportsRasmussen Reports April 22, 2010 13% 28% 9% 14% -- --Rasmussen Reports March 30, 2010 13% 27% 6% 18% -- --Marketing Research GroupMarketing Research Group March 10–15, 2010 21% 21% 10% 20% 1% -Denno-Noor Research March 3–5, 2010 12% 28% 8% 18% 2% --EPIC-MRA February 22–25, 2010 21% 27% 10% 12% 1% --Mitchell Research & CommunicationsMitchell Research & Communications November 17–19, 2009 27% 24% 12% 3% 3% --Detroit Free Press November 12–17, 2009 15% 21% 13% 5% 3% --EPIC-MRA October 11–15, 2009 28% 29% -- 14% 3% 2%Marketing Resource GroupSeptember 12–20, 2009 27% 23% 15% -- -- --Marketing Resource GroupMarketing Resource Group March 4–10, 2009 15% 17% -- -- -- --

Debate + 2010 Michigan gubernatorial election republican primary debate Date Host Moderator Link Republican Republican Republican Republican RepublicanKey: Participant  Absent  Not invited  Invited Withdrawn Mike Bouchard Mike Cox Tom George Pete Hoekstra Rick Snyder1 Jul. 13, 2010 WDIV-TV Devin Scillian C-SPAN 2 Jul. 24, 2010 WOOD-TV Susan ShawBrian Sterling C-SPAN

Results

Other parties Based on past election performance, the Libertarian Party of Michigan, Green Party of Michigan, and the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan (affiliated with the Constitution Party) have automatic ballot access for the general election, but by state law they must nominate candidates through party conventions rather than primary elections. The Natural Law Party also has automatic ballot access in Michigan, but chose not to run a candidate for governor in 2010.

Libertarian Party candidates The Libertarian Party of Michigan nominee was Kenneth Proctor. The nomination was won at the Michigan Libertarian Convention held in Okemos, Michigan on Saturday, May 22, in accordance with Michigan state law. He beat out Bhagwan Dashairya, who had been the 2006 U.S. Taxpayers Party nominee for governor. The delegates ended up selecting Dashairya as the Libertarian nominee for U.S. Congress in District 8.

Proctor's running mate was Dr. Erwin Haas, Maryland of Grand Rapids. Haas received the Lt. Governor nomination unanimously.

Green Party candidates The Green Party of Michigan held their statewide nominating convention July 31 and August 1 in Lansing, and nominated Harley Mikkelson for governor and Lynn Meadows for lieutenant governor.

U.S. Taxpayers Party candidates The 2010 U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan convention was held on June 26 in East Lansing. In a nearly unanimous vote, Stacey Mathia and Chris Levels were formally nominated as candidates of the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor.

According to Stacey Mathia's official press release, "The Convention applauded Mathia's agenda to institute Law-Abiding Constitutional Government and State Sovereignty in order to free the People of Michigan from the political oppression of big government operating outside of its authority."

The press release also stated, "Chris Levels, is currently well known as a radio talk show host on WSNL in the Flint, Michigan area. His last minute nomination speech will be available on Mathia's website. The USTPM Convention gave him a standing applause."

General election

Debates On August 12, it was reported that Virg Bernero accepted invitations to three debates. The first debate would be held September 21 and sponsored by WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids. The second debate would be held October 7 and be broadcast on 55 radio and TV stations throughout the state. The third debate would be held October 21 and would be sponsored by WXYZ-TV, WWJ (AM) and Crain's Detroit Business. Then in early September, Bernero offered Snyder a deal of eight debates. Snyder proposed a counter-offer of three debates, which Bernero refused. A Detroit Free Press editorial was critical of Snyder for not agreeing to debates. Bernero called Snyder a wimp for not agreeing to debate him. An impromptu debate developed after Bernero crashed a town hall meeting Snyder was hosting in Westland on September 13. The two sides agreed to an hour-long televised debate, broadcast on October 10 from the studios of WTVS in Wixom. A group of Detroit clergy invited the two major party candidates to a debate there on October 21. Only Bernero accepted the invitation.

Predictions Source Ranking As of Cook Political Report October 14, 2010 Rothenberg October 28, 2010 RealClearPolitics November 1, 2010 Sabato's Crystal Ball October 28, 2010 CQ Politics October 28, 2010

Polling Poll source Dates administered VirgBernero (D) RickSnyder (R)Detroit News/WDIV Local 4Detroit News/WDIV Local 4 October 25–26, 2010 35% 53%Free Press/WXYZ-TV Channel 7Free Press/WXYZ-TV Channel 7 October 23–26, 2010 37% 55%Rossman Group/Team TelComRossman Group/Team TelCom October 18, 2010 36% 50%Rasmussen ReportsRasmussen Reports October 17, 2010 34% 54%Mitchell ResearchMitchell Research October 10, 2010 29% 49%EPIC-MRAEPIC-MRA October 3–7, 2010 29% 49%Rasmussen ReportsRasmussen Reports September 20, 2010 38% 51%Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling September 17–19, 2010 31% 52%Mitchell ResearchMitchell Research August 25–29, 2010 26% 53%Detroit NewsDetroit News August 9–10, 2010 32% 51%Rasmussen ReportsRasmussen Reports August 4, 2010 37% 49%Rasmussen ReportsRasmussen Reports June 10, 2010 30% 42%Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling May 25–27, 2010 28% 44%EPIC-MRA May 22–26, 2010 28%51%EPIC-MRAEPIC-MRA March 28–31, 201029%42%Michigan Research GroupMichigan Research Group March 10–15, 201026%42%

Results

By county