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Edison Elementary School in Detroit (Photo: Rebecca Cook)
The total number of voters casting ballots in the Michigan presidential race hit a record high, with Republicans showing up in significantly bigger numbers than Democrats.
In all, 94,117 more Republicans voted than Democrats. Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris by nearly 83,000 votes, 2,796,163 to 2,713,234.
"That's why she lost, Democrats didn't show up, they stayed home, while a bigger number of Republicans turned out this year compared to 2020," said pollster Ed Sarpolus, executive director of Target Insyght, who compiled and analyzed voting statistics from the Michigan Secretary of State's Office.
According to the statistics, 42.61 percent of the Democrats voted in this election, down from 44.6 percent in 2020. That meant, 77,913 more Democrats voted in 2020 compared to 2024.
Additionally, 38,822 Independent voters who are friendly to Democrats failed to cast ballots compared to 2020. In all, Sarpolus said, 116,735 Democratic friendly voters didn't vote in 2024 as opposed to 2020, with the biggest number of stay-home voters coming from Wayne County.
Conversely, 44.28 percent of the Republicans voted this time, up from 41.8 percent in 2020. That amounted to an increase of 172,249 Republican voters, resulting in a 94,117 voter advantage over Democrats.
Here's the number of Democratic voters who didn't cast ballots this year, according to counties:
- Wayne County: 44,503
- Oakland County: 13,598
- Macomb County: 8,905
- Genesee County: 6,153
