Michigan was generally seen as one of the most critical states of the 2020 election; the state boasted a highly prized 16 electoral votes, and had been part of the
blue wall since
Bill Clinton won the state in
1992. It was key to Trump's surprise victory in 2016, and the Biden campaign paid heavy attention to the state throughout the campaign, looking to avoid a repeat of Hillary Clinton's unexpected collapse in the northern industrial states. Biden would carry the state by just under 2.8%; while Biden ran well behind
Barack Obama in his two campaigns, his margin of victory was nearly in-line for a Democratic candidate, only performing slightly worse than
John Kerry's 3.4% margin in 2004, and
Al Gore's 5.1% margin in 2000, reflecting some of the steady demographic shifts in the state. Many undecided/third-party voters that had been lost by Clinton appeared to return to the Democratic column, giving Biden enough votes to carry the state. While Michigan returned to the Democratic column with a somewhat comfortable margin, the state's internal politics shifted rather dramatically. Trump performed strongly with white voters without a college degree, winning this group by 17 points, and this group made up about 51% of Michigan's electorate, cementing the white-working-class shift to the GOP; with men, this was even more convincing, as Trump carried white men without a college degree by 30 points. On the other hand, there was a significant suburban shift towards the Democrats; for example,
Ottawa County, a suburban county outside of Grand Rapids, has traditionally been a GOP-stronghold in the state; Biden cut into Trump's margins here, and Trump carried this county with less than 60%. Other demographic patterns remained the same. Biden won 93% of African-American voters in the state; consequently, Biden improved from Clinton's performance in
Wayne County, home of
Detroit. and flipped back
Saginaw County. Biden performed strongly with Michigan's different religious groups; Biden was able to improve from Clinton in the vote share with Evangelical
Michiganders. More importantly, Biden performed strongly with white Catholics, who make up a large portion of Michigan's electorate. Much of the state's sizable Muslim and Arab American voters backed Biden in the election, in which their support was seen as being important for helping Biden secure victory in Michigan. Jeremy W. Peters of
The New York Times wrote that "high Detroit turnout" was a crucial factor aiding Biden.
African Americans in Detroit were a major demographic contributing to
Joe Biden winning that state. Trump received 12,600 votes in Detroit proper, an increase from the previous election's 7,700. In percentage terms, the shift in Detroit was from Clinton 95–3 to Biden 94–5, a decreased margin from 92 points in 2016 to 89 in 2020. Biden saw increases from 2016 in Oakland and
Washtenaw counties. In
Oakland County, Biden won 433,982 votes, making up 56.36% of the votes. The municipalities in Oakland County that majority-voted for Biden versus Trump included
Bloomfield Township,
Farmington Hills,
Madison Heights,
Novi,
Rochester Hills,
Southfield and
Troy. The number of unbalanced votes in
Wayne County for 2020 was below the same number for 2016. On November 23, 2020, Michigan certified the results 3–0, with
Norm Shinkle abstaining.
Edison exit polls ==Aftermath==