Michigan voters head to the polls in a pivotal primary election

Michigan voters head to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballots in a nationally watched Democratic primary for the state's open U.S. Senate seat.

The polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

More than 1.2 million Michiganians have already cast their ballots, either through mail-in absentee votes or by voting in person over the past 10 days at early voting sites, according to the Secretary of State's office.

While the Democratic U.S. Senate primary between Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens is Michigan's marquee race, there are several other hotly contested races in a Republican primary for governor, Democratic congressional primaries and seats in the Michigan Legislature that are effectively settled in the primary in districts where Republicans or Democrats have a majority concentration of voters.

The Detroit News will have reporters on the ground across the state covering the voting throughout the day and the vote-counting after the polls close. Follow our live blog here:

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan voters head to the polls in a pivotal primary election