U-M regents race: six candidates for two seats, plus MSU trustees and Wayne State governors, at the bottom of Tuesday’s ballot

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Six candidates are running for two eight-year seats on the University of Michigan Board of Regents on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and every voter in the state gets a say. Voters may choose up to two, and the top two vote-getters win.

The same statewide ballot also fills two seats each on the Michigan State University Board of Trustees and the Wayne State University Board of Governors. Michigan holds no primaries for these boards. The parties pick their nominees at spring conventions.

The three boards set tuition, approve budgets and building projects and hire and oversee university presidents. U-M’s regents are not paid, The Michigan Daily notes. In October, for example, the regents cleared plans for the sports medicine institute planned for the old Wolverine Tower site.

Who is running for U-M regent

Democrat Paul Brown is the only incumbent in the race. Democratic delegates chose him and Dearborn attorney Amir Makled at their April 19 convention, leaving incumbent Regent Jordan Acker off the ballot, MLive reported. Republicans nominated Lena Epstein and Michael Schostak at their March 28 convention in Novi. Libertarian Andrew Chadderdon and Kyle Maas of the U.S. Taxpayers Party are also on the ballot.

Under the board list published by The Michigan Daily, Democrats hold six of the eight seats, including the two on the ballot, and Republicans Sarah Hubbard and Carl Meyers hold the other two. A Republican sweep on Tuesday would make the board 4-4.

What the candidates say

Epstein, a Republican and fourth-generation U-M graduate, is co-owner of Vesco Oil Corp. and holds an MBA from U-M. She told WEMU she wants more in-state students admitted, stronger ties between the university and business, research partnerships with Israel and a firmer stand against antisemitism. “My goal is to offer collaborative consensus-style leadership,” she said, so the board works well together “and as we interface with entities like the federal government.”

Brown told WEMU he wants to widen access to education, keep the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion work and protect academic independence, and he said the board needs to be more open on decisions like the Los Alamos National Laboratory research computing center. “I think we are violating our core responsibility as a public institution,” he said. He also said he has taken part in 12 lawsuits challenging Trump administration actions on higher education.

Maas, who WEMU says finished high school at 10 and began college at 12, says students should get a return on what they pay and that free speech needs protecting. “I tend to think that we have lost a lot of our skill in civil discourse, which is causing a lot of the social problems on campus,” he told the station. Makled, a civil rights attorney and UM-Dearborn graduate, told the University Record he would push to make U-M “more affordable, transparent and accountable.” Schostak and Chadderdon did not respond to WEMU, and Chadderdon did not send a statement to the Record.

MSU trustees and Wayne State governors

At MSU, Democratic incumbents Brianna Scott and Kelly Tebay face Republicans Julie Maday and Roger Victory, along with John Anthony La Pietra (Green), Daniel Patterson and William White (Libertarian), Janet Sanger and John Sanger (U.S. Taxpayers) and Yaz Ozbek (Working Class), according to Ballotpedia.

Wayne State’s race has no incumbent. Democrats Shereef Akeel and Richard Mack face Republicans Andy Anuzis and Christa Murphy, plus Paul Ragan (Green), Alexander Avery and Jami Van Alstine (Libertarian), Kathleen Oakford (Natural Law), Jeff McDonald (U.S. Taxpayers) and Suzanne Roehrig (Working Class).

Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, and anyone in line at 8 p.m. may vote. Voters can preview their full ballot, including these down-ballot university races, at Michigan.gov/Vote.

Sources:
WEMU, “One incumbent and five newcomers on the ballot for U-M Board of Regents” (Oct. 30, 2026; Brown, Epstein and Maas interviews and quotes), https://www.wemu.org/wemu-news/2026-10-30/one-incumbent-and-five-newcomers-on-the-ballot-for-u-m-board-of-regents
The University Record, “Five Board of Regents candidates state their case” (Oct. 26, 2026; Makled statement), https://record.umich.edu/articles/five-board-of-regents-candidates-state-their-case/
Ballotpedia, Michigan university board elections, 2026 (candidate lists for U-M, MSU and Wayne State), https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_State_Board_of_Regents_election,_2026
The Michigan Daily, “Can UMich students name a regent?” (current board members, unpaid eight-year terms), https://www.michigandaily.com/news/administration/can-umich-students-name-a-regent-many-are-stumped/
MLive, “Incumbent University of Michigan regent loses spot on November ballot” (April 2026; party conventions), https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2026/04/incumbent-university-of-michigan-regent-loses-spot-on-november-ballot.html
Photo: Ruthven Museums Building, University of Michigan, Michael Barera, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:University_of_Michigan_August_2013_171_(Ruthven_Museums_Building).jpg

Ann Arbor · Election 2026 coverage

Tags: Election 2026 · University of Michigan · Board of Regents · Michigan State University · Wayne State University · Higher education