“Trust dies but mistrust blossoms.”
— Sophocles —
As Election Day approaches, voters in Michigan are navigating a political landscape shaped by partisan divisions and underscored by eroding trust. Nothing exemplified that erosion better than the revelation of a fake polling experiment that former U.S. Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow says damaged her campaign, drying up resources heading into the primary, which she eventually dropped out of. Meanwhile, as election officials and advocates worked to reassure voters about the security of the election system, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would send Election Day monitors to seven Michigan communities, provoking another round of mistrust.
Rebuilding trust starts with transparency, accountability and most importantly — reliable information.
Michigan Advance delivers independent, nonpartisan reporting that you can trust, all without a paywall. If you value our work and have the means to make a donation, that support would be greatly appreciated.
And, as always, thank you for supporting Michigan Advance.
Jon King - Editor-in-Chief
YOUR TOP MICHIGAN ADVANCE STORIES OF THE WEEK
Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan’s Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, at the Michigan Democratic Party’s nominating convention on Aug. 29, 2026. (Photo by Kyle Davidson/Michigan Advance)
By Ben Solis
With voters still up for grabs in the final weeks of the U.S. Senate race, Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers are campaigning in unlikely places as both candidates seek to chip away at the others’ bases.
Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow participates in a U.S. Senate candidate debate during the Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island, Mich., on May 28, 2026. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
By Ben Solis
Wedgewood Polls was among several firms that released data during the 2026 Democratic primary race for the U.S. Senate showing state Sen. Mallory McMorrow trailing her opponents by a wide margin and Abdul El-Sayed — the eventual nominee — well ahead of his chief rival, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham. But Wedgewood now says the poll’s data was fake and was an “experiment” designed to be a “wake-up call” to voters about the vulnerabilities of modern polling.
A voter exiting the poll at the Louis Pasteur School in Detroit on Nov. 8, 2022 (Photo by Ken Coleman/Michigan Advance)
By Kyle Davidson
After sending federal monitors to three Michigan cities for the primary election, the U.S. Department of Justice will once again send monitors to observe elections on Nov. 3, according to state officials.
A test ballot is submitted to a precinct tabulator in the Lansing Elections Office prior to the August primary. July 20, 2026. | Photo by Katherine Dailey/Michigan Advance.
By Katherine Dailey
With just over two weeks until the Nov. 3 general election, anxieties over federal interference on Election Day, as well as fears about the security of casting a ballot in the first place, are ever-present in conversations about election integrity in Michigan.
Checkout lane at Meijer store in Howell, Michigan. (Photo by Jon King/Michigan Advance)
COMMENTARY
By Karen Holcomb-Merrill
In Michigan, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) shows up at every kind of table: rural and urban, young families and veterans, working parents and grandparents. Right now, those tables are at risk of looking bare.
Thanks for reading Weekend Advance at the Glance. Did you know our daily morning newsletter is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.