Who is forecasted today to win the Michigan governor's race?
Updated Tuesday, October 27, 2026 · 7 days to Election Day · VotePredictor
Jocelyn Benson is favored. The VotePredictor forecast gives Benson a 97% chance of beating John James, with a predicted margin of Benson +8.1. That is a Safe D race: Benson wins about 19 times in 20, and James in the other 3%.
What the forecast is built on
The forecast starts from the 12 public polls in the forecast window, whose plain average is Benson +8.1. Each poll is corrected for its voter screen and its pollster's measured house effect first (the “Adjusted” column below).
- The polls, weighted and corrected, read Benson +8.4.
- The fundamentals (the state's presidential lean, incumbency, the last result and the national environment) read Benson +5.0.
- The published forecast blends the two, mostly on the polls, at Benson +8.1.
How the forecast has moved
| Date | Benson's chance | Predicted margin |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 2 | 56% | Benson +1.7 |
| May 7 | 69% | Benson +5.6 |
| Jun 4 | 73% | Benson +6.8 |
| Jul 2 | 73% | Benson +6.8 |
| Aug 6 | 69% | Benson +5.7 |
| Sep 1 | 69% | Benson +4.5 |
| Oct 1 | 95% | Benson +8.2 |
| Oct 20 | 97% | Benson +8.5 |
| Oct 27 (today) | 97% | Benson +8.1 |
The polls
12 polls are in today's forecast; 14 older ones have aged out and are shown dimmed. Margins are Democrat minus Republican.
The polls behind it
26 polls · 12 in today's forecast · newest firstDimmed polls are more than 61 days old. They stay on the record, but today's forecast no longer counts them. Each pollster name links to the poll's source.The VotePredictor margin is the poll after correcting for its pollster's record in past elections and for registered-voter or all-adult samples.
What everyone else says
Prediction markets
| Market | Benson's chance |
|---|---|
| Polymarket | 93% |
| Kalshi | 92% |
| VotePredictor | 97% |
Rating shops
| Forecaster | Rating | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Decision Desk HQ | Likely D | Oct. 23, 2026 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Likely D | Oct. 22, 2026 |
| Silver Bulletin | Likely D | Oct. 23, 2026 |
| Cook Political Report | Lean D | Oct. 23, 2026 |
| Fox News | Lean D | Oct. 20, 2026 |
| NBC News | Lean D | Oct 26, 2026 |
| RealClearPolitics | Lean D | Oct. 12, 2026 |
| Inside Elections | Tilt D | Oct. 15, 2026 |
All 8 rating shops favor Benson. The markets average 93% for Benson; VotePredictor is 5 points more confident in Benson.
Can you trust this forecast?
Every VotePredictor forecast is scored after the election against the same outcomes as everyone else's. Across 615 past races (Senate, governor, House and president), our final forecasts rank #2 of every forecaster that covered them all (Brier score 0.075, lower is better); FiveThirtyEight is first at 0.074. The full record is on the forecaster rankings and methodology pages.
This article is regenerated every day from the VotePredictor forecast, the poll database, the prediction markets and the rating shops' latest published ratings. Live numbers are on the race page.