Michigan governor

Candidates include Jocelyn Benson (D), John James (R), Douglas Campbell (G), Anthony Hudson (L) and Donna Brandenburg. Campaign figures come from each candidate’s filings with the Michigan Bureau of Elections. Each figure shows the date it runs through.

3 days until Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Voting in Michigan? Check your registration, deadlines and options on vote.gov (opens in a new tab)

Candidates · what each campaign reported

Jocelyn Benson (D)

Jocelyn Benson for Governor

Raised: $16.7M
Spent: $16.0M
Cash on hand: $681K

Through Oct. 18, 2026. State filing (opens in a new tab).

These figures cover her whole campaign. Raised includes $768,030 in interest, refunds and other money that isn’t a contribution.

Outside money

For$507K

John James (R)

John James for MI

Raised: $12.5M
Spent: $11.7M
Cash on hand: $1.3M

Jan. 1, 2026 through Oct. 18, 2026. State filing (opens in a new tab).

Raised includes $709,342 in public matching funds. Another $603,826 he raised for the general election in earlier reports isn’t counted. Cash on hand adds his primary and general election accounts. His campaign owes $36,886.

Outside money

For$3.3M
Against$42K

Also on the ballot: Douglas Campbell (G), Anthony Hudson (L), Donna Brandenburg (U.S. Taxpayers Party). Their fundraising isn’t tracked here.

Outside money · groups spending for or against the candidates

$3.9M from the groups below. In governor races, much outside money goes to the campaign or to a committee the candidate controls, so the table says how each dollar got into the race.

Outside money in the Michigan governor’s race
Group	For or against	How	Amount	When
Mission Michigan	For John James	Independent spending	$3,330,937	Through Oct. 7, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
American Energy Action Fund · all since the Aug. 4 primary	For Jocelyn Benson	Independent spending	$400,000	Sept. 14, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Progress Michigan Political Action Fund	For Jocelyn Benson	Independent spending	$80,000	Through Oct. 7, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Make Michigan Great Again	Against John James	Independent spending	$40,000	Through Oct. 7, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Michigan Action State Super PAC · its share of mail and ads that also backed other Democrats; all since the Aug. 4 primary	For Jocelyn Benson	Independent spending	$26,513	Sept. 28, 2026 to Oct. 8, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Farm PAC · yard signs; all since the Aug. 4 primary	For John James	Independent spending	$3,172	Oct. 2, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Progress Michigan	Against John James	Independent spending	$1,843	Through Oct. 7, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

About these numbers

Michigan committees report spending for or against a candidate and name who it’s about, so that spending is listed here. Issue ads aren’t reported.
Campaign figures come from the pre-general reports, which run through Oct. 18.
Next report: Post-general report, covering through Nov. 23, 2026, due Dec. 3, 2026. We’ll update this page once it’s filed.
Governor campaigns file with the state, not the FEC, so these numbers come from the Michigan Bureau of Elections (opens in a new tab) and are read by hand after each state deadline, so a new filing can take a few days to show up here. National groups like the Republican and Democratic Governors Associations report to the IRS; their transfers are listed when they appear in state or IRS filings.
See a mistake or a filing we missed? Email corrections@paidforpolitics.com with a link to the filing.

Last checked Oct. 24, 2026. All governor races · How this works.