(The Center Square) – The U.S. Senate race in Michigan remains too close to call Wednesday afternoon, with Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin leading Republican Mike Rogers 48.6% to 48.3% with 99% of votes counted.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said the closeness of the race, which has a roughly 10,000 ballot difference, will most likely trigger an automatic recount, though neither candidate so far has requested one.
Roughly 6,000 ballots from military and overseas voters are still awaiting tabulation as of noon Wednesday, Benson said. NBC news estimates up to 163,000 ballots in total remain to be counted.
If Rogers wins and flips the open seat red, currently held by retiring Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow, it could affect the partisan balance of the U.S. Senate.
Election analysts have dubbed the race one of the tightest in the nation. Both candidates spent millions on their campaigns, though Slotkin raised almost four times as much as Rogers, $45.7 million compared to $10.6 million, respectively, as of the latest data available from Oct. 16.
Polls had consistently given Slotkin a couple-point advantage, and FiveThirtyEight’s election forecast showed Slotkin “won” the seat 76 out of 100 times, while Rogers “won” the seat 24 out of 100 times, portraying a much larger gap than current results show.
Roughly 22,000 new voters registered on Election Day and more than 2 million Michiganders voted in person on Election Day. More than 5.5 Michiganders in total voted in the 2024 election, roughly equivalent to record-breaking 2020 numbers.
The Associated Press has called Michigan for President-elect Donald Trump, who led Vice President Harris 49.5% to 48.5% when the AP called the race at 12:54 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday.
