On December 4, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said he will run as an independent candidate for Governor Michigan in 2026. He has been a Democrat, but Detroit has non-partisan elections for city office. Michigan doesn’t have registration by party so there is no formal way to determine if he is now a Democrat or an independent, except by his public statements.

He will be hampered because Michigan has a straight-ticket device. Michigan is one of only 24 states that has never elected anyone Governor other than the Democratic or Republican nominee, in all the years since the Civil War. The others are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

The Kentucky Secretary of State has released the official vote tallies, including the write-ins for the declared write-in presidential candidates. For the candidates who were on the ballot in at least one state, Peter Sonski of the American Solidarity Party received 610; Claudia De la Cruz of the Party for Socialism & Liberation received 390; Cornel West received 174; Jay Bowman 31; Joseph Kishore of Socialist Equality had 8.

In 2020, the American Solidarity Party had received 408 presidential write-ins, and the Party for Socialism & Liberation had received 98. Thanks to Tony Roza for the link.