Michigan AG Dana Nessel wins 2nd term, defeats Republican Matt DePerno

Incumbent Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has defeated Republican opponent Matt DePerno, securing a second term in office, the AP projects.

Nessel was a criminal prosecutor and civil rights attorney prior to being sworn in as Michigan Attorney General in 2019. The Democrat had become more well-known due to her involvement in legal battles surrounding abortion and reproductive rights in the state after Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling, was overturned earlier this year.

GOP candidate DePerno, a political newcomer who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, is currently currently under investigation for potential criminal charges in connection with an effort to gain access to voting machines after the 2020 election. He has consistently supported the lie that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from Trump after now-President Joe Biden won.

In August, AG Nessel requested that a special prosecutor investigate whether DePerno, and eight other people, regarding allegations that they had convinced local clerks to hand over voting tabulators, broke into them and performed “tests” on them. Nessel requested a special prosecutor because it was then likely that she would face DePerno in the general election and the investigation was a conflict of interest.

In polls taken the months and weeks leading up to the midterm election, Michigan voters favored Nessel, who maintained a lead over DePerno -- but only until mid-October. DePerno’s number’s spiked just weeks before Election Day, according to the latest WDIV/Detroit News poll, placing the race in a statistical tossup with 43.7% of voters supporting Nessel and 42.5% supporting DePerno.

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The chart below shows where voters stood on both candidates, according to poll results from July through October.