Republican candidate Tudor Dixon says her race to be the next Michigan governor is too close to call.
Early election night results had shown Dixon down to Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer by thousands of votes when she addressed supporters.
“The results continue to trickle in. The major counties have a very, very long way to go. Macomb is telling us that they won’t have any numbers until tomorrow morning. So that’s definitely going to be a late night for us,” Dixon said.
Around 30 minutes before taking the stage, Fox News, which had been airing during Dixon's results party all night, called the race for Whitmer. The crowd met the news with boos.
“We have talked to so many people who want to make sure we make the change in Michigan and tonight it happened, so we don’t accept that Fox is calling this because we know that this is too close to call. There are so many more votes out there. And we are going to get this done,” Dixon told the room.
The Associated Press called the race for Whitmer shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday, with more than 100,000 votes separating the candidates and more than 60% of votes counted. Dixon's campaign did not immediately respond to the AP's call.
Republicans had opened the night hoping to oust a trio of Democratic incumbents from the governor, secretary of state and attorney general’s offices.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has declared victory in her race to keep her position. Early Wednesday morning, Attorney General Dana Nessel was leading in her re-election campaign. But the Associated Press had not called either of those races.
Elsewhere, Republicans could hold onto control in the state Legislature. Analysts had suggested both the House of Representatives and Senate could be in play for the Democrats this year.
“Republicans started from a disadvantage. The redistricting commission took away a lot potential seats that Republicans could have won. And despite that, the Republican Party has overcome all those obstacles and I think they’re going to hold on to both chambers,” Michigan GOP spokesperson Gustavo Portela said shortly after polls closed Tuesday.
As of 1:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, competitive Senate races in the 9th, 12th, and 3th districts remained close.
Republicans currently hold a 22-16 majority in that chamber. Things are tighter in the House, where Republicans hold a 56-53 majority, with state Rep. Matt Maddock serving as an independent after being removed from the Republican caucus earlier this year.