Eli Savit
Democrat or Republican?
Eli Savit is a Democrat.
Life + Career
Savit grew up in Washtenaw County. He graduated from Kalamazoo College, and then the University of Michigan Law School. He then worked as a public-school teacher, was a clerk (most notably for Justices Sandra Day O’Conner and Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court), was a lecturer at the U of M Law School, and was the Senior Legal Counsel for City of Detroit. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney for Washtenaw County in 2020 on a decarceral platform aimed at reducing the number of people held in prisons and jails.
Key Policy Positions
Supports expanding consumer protection work against utilities, healthcare companies, and other powerful interests
Supports defending abortion rights
Supports challenging federal policies or actions that he believes conflict with Michigan law or constitutional rights
Supports pursuing white-collar crime
China
No specific positions.
Immigration
Savit is against ICE making arrests in state courthouses. He believes that not having a law in place to protect the safety of non-citizens who’re either victims or witnesses of crime makes prosecuting certain crimes difficult because they don’t show up to court. He also adopted policies protecting immigrants and denying the federal government access to related information. In response, the Trump administration has sued Washtenaw County, naming Savit as a defendant, over policies restricting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Education
Savit is against violence against students and educators in schools and communities.
One thing to note is that the MEA recommends Savit for Attorney General.
Healthcare
Savit supports healthcare being affordable and accessible. He believes that one way to make it affordable is through accountability, so he will make sure people doing unlawful business practices in healthcare will be held accountable. He has also already made true to this promise before, as he oversaw the City of Detroit’s lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies for perpetuating the opioid epidemic. He also supports defending abortion rights.
Tax
No specific positions.
Safety
Savit supports expanding consumer protection work against utilities, healthcare companies, and other interests. He also supports pursuing white-collar crime.
As Prosecuting Attorney for Washtenaw County, Savit ended the use of cash bail as a condition of pretrial release for most defendants, as well as directed his office to stop prosecuting certain consensual sex-work cases and the possession/use of psychedelic mushrooms.
Criticisms
Savit faced a campaign-finance complaint over his use of a county vehicle and gas card for a campaign-related travel. Critics argued that using a government-issued gas card for campaign related travel could violate Michigan campaign finance law. However, Savit argued that since his personal use of the vehicle and its fuel is tracked and treated as taxable income on his W-2, it was a taxable employment benefit.
Savit has also said that he won’t be taking his Washtenaw County policies statewide after critics pointed out due to those policies, he may be too lenient to criminals.
Sources: michwomen.com/blog/michigan-attorney-general-race-2026-voter-guide, michiganadvance.com/2026/01/14/lawyers-and-advocates-express-unanimous-support-for-proposal-to-bar-most-ice-arrests-at-courthouses, wemu.org/wemu-news/2026-04-24/washtenaw-county-prosecutor-eli-savit-talks-about-his-bid-for-michigan-attorney-general, justice.gov/opa/media/1435576/dl, mea.org/mea-recommends-savit-for-attorney-general, michiganpublic.org/politics-government/2026-08-15/eli-savit-michigan-ag-candidate-speaks-on-reducing-gun-violence-in-detroit, eliformichigan.com/issues, eliformichigan.com/about, reproductivefreedomforall.org/news/reproductive-freedom-for-all-endorses-eli-savit-for-michigan-attorney-general, michigan.law.umich.edu/faculty-and-scholarship/our-faculty/eli-n-savit, bridgemi.com/michigan-government/shrooms-sex-and-cash-bail-eli-savit-says-he-wont-take-policies-statewide, michigan.gov/mdcr/news/releases/2021/01/05/cash-bail, fox2detroit.com/news/washtenaw-countys-top-cop-wont-pursue-charges-against-sex-workers, washtenaw.org/policies-2, washtenaw.org/charging-policies, michigan.gov/sos/-/media/Project/Websites/sos/CFR-Complaints/2026/1/Labrant-v-Savit-et-al-Compiled.pdf?hash=1BA0BDDEB3D2FB2A878F595C9187AFD6&rev=deda5289c00545dab11a767bd944f6ce, michiganadvance.com/2026/04/29/michigan-democratic-ag-candidate-savit-calls-campaign-finance-complaint-meritless, detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2026/04/17/washtenaw-county-prosecutor-eli-savit-campaign-travel-taxpayers/89637223007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z119556p118950l116250c118950e1185xxv119556d--xx--b--xx--&gca-ft=233&gca-ds=sophi, cms.stateaffairs.com/tag/eli-savit
