STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — U.S. Rep. John James will be the Republican nominee for governor after defeating businessman Perry Johnson in Tuesday's primary election. James of Shelby Township had about 49% of the first votes counted statewide, while Johnson of Bloomfield Hills had about 35%. There were still tens of thousands of ballots to be tallied. Cheers and yelps went up as NBC and the ...

U.S. Rep. John James, R-Shelby Township, represents Michigan's 10th Congressional District.

David Guralnick/The Detroit News/TNS

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — U.S. Rep. John James will be the Republican nominee for governor after defeating businessman Perry Johnson in Tuesday's primary election.

James of Shelby Township had about 49% of the first votes counted statewide, while Johnson of Bloomfield Hills had about 35%. There were still tens of thousands of ballots to be tallied.

Cheers and yelps went up as NBC and the Associated Press called the race for James just before 10:30 p.m. Around 200 attendees started packing around the stage as music blared and campaign staff handed out James campaign signs to the crowd, which included an American flag and a black helicopter in a nod to the candidate's military service.

On screens in the background, clips continue to play showing James pumping iron, shooting guns and chatting with Kid Rock, among others.

James, who's in his second term in the U.S. House, garnered the endorsement of President Donald Trump and had touted the fact that he won two elections in his battleground district. Johnson has never held elected office and was booted off the 2022 gubernatorial primary ballot over signature fraud, along with other candidates.

Leslie Bowers, a 48-year-old gymnastics coach who voted at the St. James Catholic Church in Novi on Tuesday, supported James and said the gubernatorial race was the most important contest for her.

"I was just looking at stances on family, abortion, how we can protect our freedoms and keep our families healthy and safe," Bowers said. "John James is who I am behind right now.

"His background and his stance on things seem to align the most with what I agree with."

Johnson's campaign had promoted James' past losses in U.S. Senate races in Michigan in 2018 and 2020. Johnson, who made his fortune developing quality controls for the auto industry, spent about $30 million of his own money on his campaign, a deluge of money that kept his commercials on TV for months.

He has prioritized doing away with the state's 4.25% personal income tax.

Bill Reiber, a 58-year-old Genoa Township trustee who was volunteering for a campaign outside a polling place on Tuesday, said he preferred Johnson in the governor's race.

"He's a bean counter," Reiber said. "He's into quality management systems, and I work in the automotive systems, and we depend totally on managing our quality management systems. So I kinda know where he's coming from."

High stakes for Republicans this year

More than 100 attendees of John James' election night party at the Associated Builders and Contractors of Southeastern Michigan headquarters in Sterling Heights were starting to filter in just after the polls closed at 8 p.m., walking past a small Statute of Liberty and James Madison quote printed on the wall.

They lined up for an open bar on one end of the room, grazing from assorted cheese and veggie plates on the other, the room lit up with a red, white and blue theme.

As rock classics blared, two large projectors on either side of the stage showed social media clips of James on the campaign trail — including a recent one of him lifting weights — interspersed with James interviews on Fox News. Screens playing Fox election coverage were also positioned at the rear.

Richard Moen, 78, a Vietnam U.S. Army veteran, said he liked the fact that James, too, is a veteran, conservative and backs Trump. And the Romeo resident said some of Perry Johnson’s negative advertising in the race had turned him off as he was making up his mind.

“There’s been a lot of television commercials for Perry Johnson in the last few weeks, and they’ve been all, in my opinion, all negative,” Moen said. “Going after all of the other candidates, and he didn’t say anything other than ‘4747, vote for me,’” referring to a set of Johnson policy proposals.

Over in Oakland County, dozens of Johnson supporters wore red, white, and blue hats and other accessories as they gathered at the San Marino Club banquet hall in Troy.

The atmosphere was chatty as monitors displayed live Fox 2 Detroit election night feeds awaiting the results. The hall was noisy with conversation as guests got food from a banquet table and drinks from a cash bar. Signs adorned the walls with "4,747!" — Johnson's slogan that his plan to eliminate the state's personal income tax would save the average Michigan household $4,747.

Hits of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s played at the Johnson party.

“I like him as a candidate,” Pete Llewellyn, 64, of Waterford, said of Johnson. “I don’t really think he has a chance.”

He noted Trump’s endorsement of James, adding that he believes Trump will back the candidate he thinks can win, not necessarily the best candidate. Llewellyn supports Johnson’s platform, but he said he just gets a good feeling from him, too. Meanwhile, Llewellyn said he doesn’t like James as a political leader, citing his support for funding arms to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

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Perry Johnson, a Republican candidate for governor in Michigan, speaks with members of the press during a campaign stop on Aug. 1, 2026, in Hamtramck, Michigan.

Katy Kildee/The Detroit News/TNS

Peter Kiszczyc, 72, of Clinton Township, carried a large Johnson more than half his height with him around the hall. It’s the small one — he has one double the size at home, he said.

Kiszczyc said Johnson reminds him of the Trump as an outsider candidate and successful businessman who funded his own campaign.

“John James is not a warrior. He’s not a fighter,” Kiszczyc said.

Michigan's current governor, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, can't seek reelection this fall because of the state's term limits.

Republicans have been hoping to win back the governor's office for the first time since then-Gov. Rick Snyder departed at the end of 2018. Whitmer won by about 10 percentage points over Republican Tudor Dixon in 2022 and about 9 points over Republican Bill Schuette in 2018.

Former Attorney General Mike Cox of Livonia, former state House Speaker Tom Leonard of DeWitt and state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt of Porter Township were among the Republican candidates who launched bids for governor and dropped off before the Tuesday election.

Cox and Nesbitt's names still appeared on the ballots because they ended their campaigns after the withdrawal deadline. Cox had 12% to Nesbitt's 1.3% in early returns.

Ruth Strand, a 79-year-old from Genoa Township, said she was hopeful the Republicans will be able to win the governor's race in November.

Strand voted in the Republican primary on Tuesday and backed James because she said he’s conservative. But Strand said she wasn’t motivated by the fact that Trump had endorsed James to be Michigan’s next governor.

“I don’t know how much influence he’s having with people anymore,” Strand said. “Because everybody’s so ticked off at him.”

Strand described Trump as a “blabbermouth.”

Johnson ran on his outsider status

James, 45, launched his bid for governor in April 2025. He's an Army veteran and businessman from Metro Detroit.

During his campaign, he's focused on improving Michigan's education system and contending that he's the best GOP option to lead the GOP ticket against Democrats in November because of his experience.

"I think that people are looking for leadership, proven, tested leadership, focused on the things that truly matter," James said at an event near downtown Muskegon over the weekend.

But some Republicans have voiced frustration that James chose to run for governor instead of for reelection in his battleground 10th U.S. House District. Nora Smith, 68, a retired Dearborn police records keeper and Republican voter, said she was turned off by James’ decision to abandon his swing district congressional seat in the suburbs.

“I was disappointed James quit his job that soon,” said Smith, who voted for Johnson. “I think he’s kind of flighty.”

“Perry Johnson is the most likely to be most like Trump,” Smith added. “I really think James should have stayed where he’s at.”

Johnson, 78, announced his campaign for governor in January, vowing to spend "whatever it takes" to win.

That spending, he said, has allowed him to remain independent of quid pro quos from interest groups and businesses, such as those associated with controversial data centers.

"That's what an outsider brings to the race," Johnson said.

He previously ran for governor in 2022, but he didn't make the ballot after getting caught up in a wave of petition fraud. He also briefly ran for president in 2024.

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