The short version
Michigan nominates partisan candidates through the August primary. For many offices you can get on the ballot either by filing partisan nominating petitions or by paying a $100 filing fee in lieu of petitions. A few statewide offices are nominated at party conventions instead.
- Offices you can run for
- Federal (U.S. House and Senate); statewide offices (Governor and others — some nominated by convention); the Michigan Senate and House; county, township, city, and school seats; and (nonpartisan) judicial offices.
- How to get on the ballot
- File an Affidavit of Identity plus either nominating petitions with the required valid signatures (the count, and the geographic spread for statewide offices, vary by office) or the $100 fee in lieu where the office allows it. File with your county clerk if the district sits in one county, or with the Secretary of State for multi-county and statewide offices.
- Who runs candidate filing
- Michigan Department of State — Bureau of Elections
This is a plain-language overview, not legal advice. Filing deadlines and fees change every election cycle and vary by office — the official Michigan resources below are the final word. When in doubt, the elections authority is right and we're wrong.
Official Michigan candidate resources
Start here for the exact deadlines, fees, forms, and signature counts for your office and cycle.
Once you're on the ballot, Motion51 runs your field game.
Get your district's voter file loaded, cut into walkable turf, and onto an app your volunteers use at the door. Michigan is fully available — see how to get your voter file.
Talk to us about your Michigan race
Tell us what you're running for and we'll help you go from "qualified" to "knocking doors" — voter file loaded, turf cut, volunteers set up.