1982Flipped from RepublicanFinal results
1982 election for Michigan Governor
Governor · Michigan
James J. Blanchard (D) won with 53.3% of the vote, defeating Richard H. Headlee (R) by 6.5 points, a seat Republicans won last time.
James J. BlanchardDemocrat · winner
53.3%1,561,291
Richard H. HeadleeRepublican
46.7%1,369,582
2,930,873 votes
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1982
Races before and after
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET