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LiberalMind endorses Doug Lloyd

Election Day is November 3. Attorney General Dana Nessel is term-limited, the seat is open, and for the first time in Michigan both major-party nominees are sitting county prosecutors. They were not chosen in a primary — Michigan nominates its attorney general at party conventions — and every public poll shows Eli Savit ahead by one to three points with a quarter to nearly a third of voters still undecided. Savit has also out-raised Doug Lloyd by a wide margin in every named compilation. The records underneath are not close in the same direction: Savit brings a documented progressive-prosecutor program from Washtenaw County — no cash bail, decriminalized consensual sex work, decriminalized psychedelic mushrooms — and says those policies cannot be taken statewide without a change in law. Lloyd brings thirteen years as Eaton County's prosecutor and the endorsement of 52 county prosecutors. LiberalMind endorses Doug Lloyd. Read the research, and see why.

How Michigan got here

Michigan does not nominate Attorney General, Secretary of State, or State Board of Education candidates in the August primary. Under Michigan Election Law, Act 116 of 1954, §168.72, those nominees are chosen at state party conventions. The 2026 cycle ran in two steps, and sources conflate them, so we print them distinctly: spring endorsement conventions — Republicans on March 28, 2026, Democrats on April 19, 2026 — picked each party's endorsed nominee, and the formal nominations followed at the parties' August nominating conventions. The nominees are the same people either way; only the label of which convention "nominated" them differs between sources.

Eli Savit won the Democratic endorsement on April 19. Karen McDonald, the Oakland County Prosecutor who had led early fundraising and initially held the UAW endorsement, withdrew after the convention went to Savit. Mark Totten, a former U.S. Attorney, had withdrawn in January 2026 after the UAW endorsed McDonald, and public defender William Noakes was eliminated at the convention. Doug Lloyd won the Republican endorsement convention outright with 63% of delegate votes, defeating defense attorney Kevin Kijewski.

One correction to the record, because one voter guide implies otherwise: Matthew DePerno, the 2022 Republican nominee for this office, was listed as "not at convention" and is not on the November ballot. The confirmed ballot has exactly six candidates for this office, and he is not one of them.

Six candidates, confirmed against a Michigan general-election candidate list compiled from state records (checked October 15, 2026), with filing method "Convention," and corroborated by Ballotpedia and the race's reference pages: Eli Savit (Democratic), Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney since 2021; Doug Lloyd (Republican), Eaton County Prosecuting Attorney since 2013; Jeff Polonowski (Green); Jason Dye (Libertarian); Doug Dern (Natural Law); and John Perry Ludtke Jr. (U.S. Taxpayers).

The only rating located is stale: Sabato's Crystal Ball rated the race Tossup on August 21, 2025, more than a year before the election. No Cook or Inside Elections rating for this office was located. The polling, all labeled and all close: Global Strategy Group (D), September 27–October 1, 2026, ±3.5 — Savit 47, Lloyd 44. Cygnal (R)/Beacon Research (D), September 18–21, 600 likely voters, ±4.0 — Savit 39, Lloyd 37, undecided 24. Glengariff Group, August 31–September 3, 600 likely voters, ±4.0 — Savit 36, Lloyd 35, undecided 29. A polling-average aggregator puts the average at Savit +1.1 across three pollsters, September 3–October 1. MIRS insider prognosticators on October 15 picked Savit at 60.7% — an insider-expectations survey, not a voter poll.

The money, printed as named compilations with their dates, never averaged. Per Michigan Secretary of State campaign-finance reports as compiled by Wikipedia: Savit raised $1,632,903, spent $606,072, with cash on hand of $1,026,830 (reports as of August 13, 2026); Lloyd raised $486,534, spent $261,170, with cash on hand of $225,289 (reports as of August 6, 2026). The Lansing State Journal (August 19, 2026), reporting the pre-convention filings for the first seven months of 2026, put Savit at $1.3 million raised through mid-August with about $1 million on hand, and Lloyd at $377,000 raised in the first seven months with $225,000 on hand. The cash-on-hand figures reconcile; the raised figures do not, because the windows and entities differ — both are printed with their periods, and neither is blended. A later aggregator compilation (Elections Intelligence, state filings through September 11 / September 18, 2026) puts Savit at $2.01 million raised with $1.09 million on hand and Lloyd at $826.8K raised with $481.9K on hand — a secondary aggregator, flagged as such. Outside money: the Republican Attorneys General Association announced $7 million across 13 states in August including Michigan support for the Republican nominee, and the Democratic Attorneys General Association is also advertising; the Michigan-specific split was not broken out in the sources consulted. On every compilation, Savit holds the money lead.

Eli Savit (Democratic) — a proven county prosecutor with a progressive program

Background and service: Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney since January 2021. This is his first statewide run; he is proven in county office.

The record, claim by claim: On taking office in 2021, Savit implemented a policy directing his office to stop seeking cash bail as a pretrial-release condition. His stated rationale, on the record: cash bail lets "wealthy, dangerous people buy their way out" while poor defendants sit on $500 bonds. He says the policy is a local decision he would not promulgate statewide as attorney general, and that the sex-work and cash-bail policies cannot be taken statewide without a change in Michigan law. As prosecutor he also decriminalized consensual sex work locally — his office still prosecutes traffickers and supports charging buyers with misdemeanors when warranted — and decriminalized psychedelic mushrooms locally. In 2021 he created an Economic Justice Unit, described by Savit as the first of its kind in Michigan, targeting wage theft, scams, and labor trafficking.

The attacks on his record, labeled by strength: A Republican Attorneys General Association ad claims Savit dropped murder charges against a teen in 2022 who was charged six months later with intent to murder. The same ad's own sourcing records his office's stated reason for the dismissal: additional evidence made it impossible to prove the killing was not self-defense. The dismissal is documented; the "soft on crime" inference is the opponent group's characterization. A Michigan GOP release (June 25, 2026) blamed a Savit probation decision for a later Oakland County carjacking shooting, quoting Sheriff Bouchard's "do their damn job" remark about prosecutors generally — a single-partisan-source claim whose causal chain is unverified, and we do not print the causation as fact. The "George Soros-backed" label in the same GOP materials is a partisan characterization; no funding record was pulled in this research. Lloyd attacks the sex-work policy directly as "foolish and dangerous" and "the perspective of a social engineer, not a prosecutor," flanked by trafficking survivors.

Pros: Proven in the same job, at county scale, since 2021. A stated economic-enforcement record — wage theft, scams, labor trafficking — through a unit he created. A clear money lead and a small but consistent polling lead. On the record that his signature local policies are local, and cannot move statewide without the Legislature.

Cons: The policies themselves are the record, whatever their geographic limit: no cash bail as a condition, decriminalized consensual sex work, decriminalized psychedelic mushrooms. That is a progressive-prosecutor program, adopted in service, not a rhetorical posture. No break with his party's direction on criminal justice was located in this record — the movement is with it, and further.

The flaw, plainly: A proven in-service program that runs against this publication's values on law enforcement — adopted, not merely proposed. No Manchin-test break was located: no in-service break with his party on our values, in service, to inspect.

Doug Lloyd (Republican) — thirteen years in the same office, one county over

Background and service: Eaton County Prosecuting Attorney since 2013 — more than three decades as a prosecutor in total, and president of the Michigan Prosecutors Association. Endorsed by 52 county prosecutors and by former Attorney General Mike Cox. This is his first statewide run; he is proven in county office, for longer than his opponent.

The record, claim by claim: Lloyd campaigns on "fair, apolitical prosecution" and on enforcing the law after "eight years of lawfare." His office's Economic Crimes Unit emphasizes bad checks, retail fraud, and rental-property crimes, per Eaton County statistics reported with his opponent's record in the same coverage.

The attack on his record, labeled by strength: A Democratic Attorneys General Association-side streaming ad says Lloyd's record "raises serious concerns about his ability to keep our kids safe." No specific underlying case or finding was identified in the sources consulted. That is a vague ad claim with unverified specifics, printed here at exactly that status and no further.

Pros: The longer proven record in the identical office — thirteen years against five. The professional verdict of his peers: 52 county prosecutors and a former attorney general of his own state. A platform stated in enforcement terms — fair, apolitical prosecution — with no decriminalization program in his record.

Cons: He trails in every public poll located, by one to three points, and trails badly in money on every compilation. His statewide profile is thin, and the research located no detailed statewide program beyond the enforcement framing quoted above — voters are being asked to extend a county record, not to ratify a published statewide agenda.

The flaw, plainly: A thin statewide program on the record located — a presentation gap, not a proven in-service flaw. No conduct flaw was sourced against him, and the one ad claim against him carries no specific case behind it in the sources consulted.

The minor candidates, briefly

Jeff Polonowski (Green), Jason Dye (Libertarian), Doug Dern (Natural Law), and John Perry Ludtke Jr. (U.S. Taxpayers) are confirmed on the ballot, each nominated by convention. No record, biography, or campaign-finance information for any of the four was located in the sources consulted for this research. We state that gap rather than pad it. A standing check found no pedophile-association material meeting the proven standard — knowing association with or defense of a convicted pedophile — for any candidate on this ballot.

OUR CALL

LiberalMind endorses Doug Lloyd.

This race is two proven county prosecutors, and the doctrine prices what each man proved. Savit's proof is a program: cash bail ended as a condition in his county, consensual sex work decriminalized, psychedelic mushrooms decriminalized. His defense is geographic — those policies are local and cannot travel statewide without a change in law — and we print that defense in full above because he made it on the record. But an attorney general's own adopted program is the best evidence of his enforcement philosophy, and a candidate earns our exception for a Democrat only through the Manchin test: proven breaks with his party, in service, on our values. Savit's service shows no such break; it shows movement in his party's progressive direction, adopted as policy. Lloyd's proof is thirteen years of conventional prosecution, the endorsement of 52 of the state's county prosecutors, and a campaign stated in exactly the terms this office calls for. His flaws are printed above and they are real — he is out-raised, narrowly behind, and his statewide program is thin on paper — but they are flaws of scale and presentation, not a proven record against our values. Endorse the proven in-service conservative prosecutor, flaws noted in full.

For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.

Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Sources

Election result — November 4, 2026

Winner: Eli Savit (Democratic) — called by the Associated Press. This result was appended on November 4, 2026 (results wave 1); the original article above is unchanged, exactly as published before Election Day.

AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.

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