MSU trustee election results 2026: Scott, Zemke lead

Democratic incumbents Brianna Scott and Kelly Tebay Zemke held the top two positions Wednesday morning in the race for two seats on Michigan State University’s Board of Trustees, according to Michigan’s unofficial election results.

As of the state’s 7 a.m. EST update Nov. 4, Scott had 1,665,691 votes, or 24.98%, and Tebay Zemke had 1,593,744 votes, or 23.90%. Republican Julie Maday followed with 1,578,091 votes, or 23.67%, trailing Tebay Zemke by 15,653 votes.

The state listed 81 of 83 counties as reporting. These unofficial totals do not establish the winners and may change as additional ballots are counted.

MSU Board of Trustees results

The following figures appeared in the state’s report updated at 7:00:48 a.m. EST Nov. 4:

Candidate	Party	Votes	Percentage
Brianna Scott, incumbent	Democratic	1,665,691	24.98%
Kelly Tebay Zemke, incumbent	Democratic	1,593,744	23.90%
Julie Maday	Republican	1,578,091	23.67%
Roger Victory	Republican	1,575,861	23.64%
Daniel R. Patterson	Libertarian	60,786	0.91%
Will Tyler White	Libertarian	44,647	0.67%
Yaz Ozbek	Working Class	43,540	0.65%
Janet Sanger	U.S. Taxpayers	42,052	0.63%
John Sanger	U.S. Taxpayers	32,126	0.48%
John Anthony La Pietra	Green	30,837	0.46%
Total candidate votes		6,667,375

Voters could select up to two candidates. Percentages represent shares of candidate votes, not shares of individual voters. They may not total 100% because of rounding.

The number of counties reporting does not establish the percentage of ballots counted statewide.

The race

Ten candidates competed for two eight-year seats. Scott, the current board chair and a Democrat from Muskegon, and Tebay Zemke, a Democrat first elected in 2018, both sought second terms, according to The State News.

Their Republican challengers were Roger Victory, a term-limited state senator from Hudsonville who owns Victory Farms, and Julie Maday, a former Novi City Council member. Maday ran for trustee in 2024 and lost by fewer than 5,000 votes, Michigan Public reported.

The board entered the election with a 6-2 Democratic majority, Votebeat reported.

Board turmoil as backdrop

The campaign played out against years of board infighting. MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz announced in May that he would leave for Clemson University, citing what he called the board’s “unsustainable situation,” The State News reported. He reversed course in July and stayed, citing changes to the board’s ethics policy, MLive reported.

A revised code of ethics divided the candidates. The board adopted the code on a 5-3 vote, MLive reported. It requires trustees to sign a statement recognizing a “duty of loyalty” and to support majority decisions publicly.

Scott helped draft the code and signed it. Both Republican candidates said they would not sign it in its current form. Maday told Michigan Public the policy “goes too far” and called it “an infringement on free speech.”