While many outlets have projected that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) will win reelection, her Republican challenger Tudor Dixon has vowed to continue fighting in a moderately close race.
Some conservative outlets, including Newsmax, had not called the race at the time that Dixon spoke out, but Fox News did.
Around 11:15 p.m., the outlet declared Whitmer the winner with just 33% of the vote counted. At that time, the Democrat incumbent had received 51% of the vote, while Dixon had received 46.6%.
Fox was the first network to call Michigan’s gubernatorial race, and the only network to call it before midnight. Dixon’s watch party at the JW Marriott in Grand Rapids was viewing Fox News’ live stream when the call was made, and the crowd immediately responded by loudly booing, according to Mlive reporter Jordyn Hermani.
Speaking to her watch party crowd roughly 20 minutes after Fox News called the race for her Democrat opponent, Dixon said that she was not conceding the race just yet.
“This race is going to be too close to call, despite what Fox thinks,” she said, adding: “The major counties have a very, very long way to go.”
“We don’t accept that Fox is calling this,” Dixon continued. “There are so many more votes out there, and we are going to get this done.”
The Republican gubernatorial candidate’s campaign also released a statement, which read: “This race is not over yet, and Fox’s call was premature. We expect counting to continue into tomorrow in our major counties. This race has a long way to go.”
Tudor Dixon turns on Fox News after appearing on the network almost daily. pic.twitter.com/WYzWAO7FFD
— Susan J. Demas 🏔 (@sjdemas) November 9, 2022
This is not the first time that Fox News has called a race for a candidate much earlier than other outlets. “In 2018, FOX called it for Whitmer not long after all the polls in the state had closed. In 2020, FOX also called the Presidential race in Arizona for Joe Biden over Donald Trump,” Fox 2 Detroit reported.
Fox’s decision to call Arizona sparked outrage on the right, with many arguing that the call came much too early. Some even demanded that the network retract their announcement, though it ultimately turned out to be correct.
