A majority of local government officials in Michigan say the state is on the wrong track, according to a new University of Michigan survey that reverses a three-year trend in improving attitudes about the state’s overall direction.
The findings are layered with a healthy dose of political partisanship, say officials at the Ann Arbor university, as the Michigan Public Policy Survey consistently finds attitudes strongly linked to the respondents’ political identification in relation to the party controlling the governor’s office. Yet, optimism has declined among all partisan groups.
The survey doesn’t define “track” or “direction,” but serves as a “vibe check” common in many opinion polls or other surveys, according to U-M. Here are some key takeaways:
- Statewide, 60 percent of local government officials say the state is currently off on the wrong track — a 9-percentage point increase in pessimistic ratings.
- A quarter (26 percent) of local officials believe the state is generally going in the right direction, a 6-point drop from 2025.
- Overall, 14 percent are unsure about the direction the state is headed, consistent with past surveys.
- Around two-thirds of self-identified Democrats (65 percent) think Michigan is headed in the right direction, down sharply from the peak of 85 percent saying the same in 2023.
- A third (33 percent) of local officials who self-identify as Independents say the state is headed in the right direction, down slightly from last year.
- Fifteen percent of Republican local officials say the state is going in the right direction, down from the 20 percent who said the same in 2025.
The survey also asked local officials to rate the performance of the governor and state legislature…