2026 forecast · Michigan 7th

William Lawrence is very likely to win Michigan's 7th District.

William Lawrence vs Tom Barrett. The model has Lawrence ahead by 6.3 points, winning 86 percent of 2,000 simulated elections.

Likely DModel D +6.3Polls R +0.0Updated October 22, 2026
William Lawrence
Democrat
52.6%
200,312 projected votes
Tom Barrett
Republican
46.3%
176,301 projected votes
86%Lawrence
14%Barrett
Lawrence very likelyEach square is one simulated election night, Lawrence wins about 86 of 100
RatingLikely D86% chance for Lawrence
Model marginD +6.3Polls R +0.0
80 percent rangeD +13.7 to R +1.12,000 simulations
Projected votes380,827Lawrence 52.6%

The district map

Every district in the state, shaded by its rating

Michigan districts

13 districts
Safe DLikely DLean DToss upLean RLikely RSafe R

Vote share

Each candidate's projected share and the range of 80 percent of simulations

William LawrenceDemocrat · 86% to win
52.6%
Tom BarrettRepublican · 14% to win
46.3%

Scale runs from 25 to 75 percent. The dot is the forecast, the band is the 80 percent range and the brighter tick marks 50 percent.

Projected district vote

380,827 votes
CandidateVotesShare
William Lawrence D200,31252.6%
Tom Barrett R176,30146.3%
Shane Dedrick G4,2141.1%
Total380,827100%

Each candidate's expected vote in the On Point simulation, at the forecast's projected turnout.

The trend

Each side's chance of winning over the forecast's recent updates

0%25%50%75%100%86% Lawrence14% Barrett15 updates agoToday

Polling

Every poll in the average, and how the model reads it

The Michigan governor polling average
30%35%40%45%50%55%60%MayJunJulAugSepOct50.5Benson42.4James
The line is the On Point average: a robust LOWESS fit through the polls, weighted by recency, sample, voter screen and pollster grade, refit three times so outliers count for lessDot size is each poll's weight todayHover or use the arrow keys to read any day
What moves the average today
On Point PollingOct 18 · 518 LV · Gold15%Benson +11.8
Fox News/Beacon Research and Shaw & CompanySep 28 · 1,028 LV · A++14%Benson +9.0
Marist UniversityOct 18 · 1,025 LV · C12%Benson +6.0
Emerson CollegeSep 14 · 1,000 LV · Gold11%Benson +7.0
The Washington Post/SSPGSep 14 · 803 LV · A+9.5%Benson +12.0
New York Times/Siena UniversitySep 22 · 605 LV · Gold8.9%Benson +5.0
Every other poll together: 30%

This is the same On Point polling average as the full average page. The forecast reads the polls through its own Election Day projection, shown as the On Point average in the table below, and blends it with partisan lean and fundamentals.

Polls of the race

Full average
PollsterSampleAgeMargin
On Point averageWeighted averageR +0.0

Each margin is the poll as the pollster published it. The forecast counts every poll after its house effect and the undecided split, which is what the trail above shows; hover a margin for the counted value. Lean R and Lean D mark partisan leaning firms.

Model margin
Lawrence +6.3
Chance of winning
William Lawrence86%
Tom Barrett14%
Simulated vote
William Lawrence52.6%
Tom Barrett46.3%
Shane Dedrick1.1%
How the model gets there
Partisan leanD +1.0
FundamentalsD +6.3
With pollsD +5.9
Early vote turnoutD +0.4
With early voteD +6.3

Read from 0 ballots cast so far in Michigan, against the party mix the forecast expected of them, with similar states and primary turnout. Early vote tracker

How we got here

From the state's partisan lean to the forecast, one stage at a time

D +10R +10Partisan leanthe state's baselineD +1.0Fundamentalsapproval, economy, candidatesD +6.3With pollsaverage R +0.0D +5.9With early voteturnout so farD +6.3
Methodology
Every county is rebuilt by simulating voters going to the polls, 2,000 times, from On Point Polling survey data, past results, and the polling average. How the model works.