What's a Con-Con? Michigan voters will decide if they want to rewrite the constitution in 2026.

Yahoo

09-02-2025

A Michigan flag waves in the state Capitol plaza | Susan J. Demas
For the fourth time since Michigan's 1963 constitution went into effect, voters will decide next year whether to hold a convention to overhaul the document.
The initiative to hold a state constitutional convention — informally known as a 'Con-Con' — has automatically appeared on the state's ballot every 16 years beginning in 1978 and is enshrined in the Michigan Constitution's Article XII, Section 3.
Michigan is among just 14 states that have an automatic constitutional convention provision that does not require a legislative vote to be placed in the ballot.
Over the course of its history as a state, Michigan has had four constitutions. The original document was adopted in 1835, followed by reboots in 1850 and 1908, and finally, a constitution approved in 1963, which is still in effect today.
On this day in 1835: Michigan leader calls a constitutional convention
By the time the question of whether a convention should be held appears on the ballot in November 2026, Michigan will have gone 66 years without calling a constitutional convention, the longest period in its history without doing so.
The three previous times it appeared before Michigan voters under the current Constitution — in 1978, 1994 and 2010 — it was defeated by strong majorities ranging from between more than 2-1 to 3-1 against.
Eric Lupher, president of the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council (CRC) of Michigan, told the Michigan Advance that the idea to make the option for a convention a regular feature came from the Con-Con that produced the 1963 constitution.
'They said, 'Well, let's just be proactive about saying we're going to ask you on a regular basis.' If you feel like things are working well and if you say no, we just go on with life as normal. But if not, then we dig into a process,' said Lupher.
If a request for a convention was approved in November 2026, a special primary and then general election for delegates would have to be held, with one delegate elected on a partisan ballot in each of the 110 state House and 38 state Senate districts.
The convention would then convene in October 2027, with no limit on how long it would last, although for comparison the convention that produced the current constitution began in October 1961 and lasted for 10 months before adopting a proposed constitution on August 1, 1962.
State voters then approved that document in April 1963.
Lupher says there are arguments to be made for and against approving a constitutional convention, although it should be seen as the complete overhaul that it represents.
'Unlike the questions that we get asked from time to time as an initiative state when somebody circulates petitions and says, 'Should we amend the Constitution in this way?' — with a constitutional convention, everything is fair game, from Article One through Article 12, so it's not a piecemeal approach. It is an open document that will be examined from A-to-Z,' he said.
Many people will have some trepidation that opening up the Michigan Constitution could take away abortion rights protections or redistricting provisions that were recently added through the amendment process, Lupher said, while others may see it as an opportunity to reform education funding or the tax structure.
'People have their pet issues that are important to them and not knowing who would get elected [to the convention] and what a majority would look like, there's a reason to hope for and dread what might come,' he said.
Bob LaBrant is a longtime GOP strategist who served in various capacities with the Michigan Chamber of Commerce until his retirement in 2012. In that time, he helped lead coalitions opposing the three previous attempts to convene a constitutional convention, saying both he and the chamber felt they weren't warranted.
While he wrote a commentary in 2021 for Crain's Detroit saying he was open to the idea as we approached 2026, he told the Michigan Advance last week in an interview that now he's not so sure.
'There are a number of things that need to be changed in the [state] constitution; I don't debate that. But you know, given the MAGA movement [led by President Donald Trump], I'm sure if they were to have a majority we'd be debating things like death penalties,' he said.
Michigan's legislature abolished the death penalty in 1847 and the 1963 Constitution specifically prohibits it.
LaBrant said he worries that given the nation's extreme political polarization, opening up the state's constitution might do more harm than good, with other contentious issues such as abortion again coming up for debate, despite most Michigan residents clearly deciding they favor its legalization.
He also notes that constitutional convention delegates would be earning the same pay as legislators for the districts they represent, which is $71,685 per year, with no limit on how long the convention would convene.
'There's no date to cut off the constitutional convention. The constitutional convention sets its own rules,' said Labrant. 'If they decide that this is going to be a four-year exercise instead of a two-year exercise or even longer, I think they probably could.'
While it is true there's not a defined amount of time, Lupher said the delegates would be asked to step aside from their daily life to complete the task.
'So, they wouldn't want that to go on for a long time,' he said. 'When they come up with a new draft document, then it would go through the process of them trying to sell it to the voters, to say, 'This is why we think it's better than our current document.' Under the best of circumstances, it's a multi-year process. It could stretch even longer, but I don't think that's in their best interest to stretch it too far.'
Lupher said the CRC will be rolling out a full set of analyses on the constitutional convention question starting early next year.
'Our plan is to start our research this spring, meeting with some constitutional scholars and in different interests to understand different perspectives and then we will start putting pen to paper and as we did in 2010, and as we did in 1994, releasing the papers over time instead of one grand volume that will be hard to digest,' he said.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE