And judging by the numbers, Michigan households might want to avoid discussing politics over dinner.

Men Go Right, Women Go Left

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A Cygnal/Beacon Research research poll of 600 likely Michigan voters conducted on behalf of Michigan Enjoyer found striking gender gaps across the state’s major races.

Men favored Republican candidates while women favored Democrats, with the gap between male and female voters hovering around 30 percentage points across the contests.

The poll was conducted Sept. 18-21 and has a ±4 percentage-point margin of error for the full sample, with larger margins for subgroups.

In the governor’s race, men favored Republican John James (+9) while women favored Democrat Jocelyn Benson (+21). The same pattern appeared in the U.S. Senate contest, with men backing Republican Mike Rogers (+11) and women favoring Democrat Abdul El-Sayed (+17).

Same Problems, Different Politics

Perhaps the most interesting part is that men and women aren’t necessarily worried about completely different things. Both groups ranked inflation and the cost of living as their top concern. But there is a divide on other things. 15% of the men placed considerably more emphasis on lower taxes and less government spending, compared with just 6% of women.

The bigger difference appears to be in what each group wants government to do. Men lean more toward independence, individual initiative and less government intervention. Women, meanwhile, favor a more expansive government role, including greater spending on social programs, higher taxes to fund them and more regulation of businesses – what critics might characterize as a “nanny state.”

Women Have the Numbers

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There’s another wrinkle for Republicans: in Michigan, women make up a larger share of Michigan voters. Edison Research’s final 2024 exit-poll data found that women accounted for 55% of Michigan’s electorate, compared with 45% for men. However, midterm turnout often differs from a presidential year.

So while Michigan politicians spend the final weeks fighting over independents, geography and turnout, the election may also come down to something considerably simpler: whether Michigan’s men and women can agree on anything besides the fact that everything costs too much.