# Jocelyn Benson **Jocelyn Benson** (b. October 22, 1977) has been Michigan's Secretary of State since 2019 and is the **Democratic nominee for Governor of Michigan in 2026**. As chief election officer of a core battleground state, she ran the 2020 vote that Trump tried to overturn. That record is the basis of her campaign. ## Background Benson grew up in Pittsburgh and holds degrees from Wellesley, Oxford (Magdalen) and Harvard Law. Early in her career she investigated hate groups at the Southern Poverty Law Center, then clerked for Judge Damon Keith on the Sixth Circuit. She became dean of Wayne State University Law School in 2012, at 36, the youngest woman to lead an accredited U.S. law school. ## Secretary of State - **Elected 2018** with 52.9%, the first Democrat to win the office since 1995. - **2020.** She mailed absentee-ballot applications to all 7.7 million registered voters, using $4.5 million in CARES Act money. Trump called her a "rogue Secretary of State"; the courts upheld her authority. A 2021 court ruling separately faulted her signature-matching guidance on procedural grounds. - **December 7, 2020.** Armed Trump supporters gathered outside her Detroit home demanding that she reverse the result. The protest became one of the defining images of the [[Stop the Steal]] pressure campaign on election officials. - **Re-elected 2022** with 55.9% over [[Kristina Karamo]], the election-denier nominee. It was the largest margin of any statewide candidate that year. ## The 2026 race Benson announced in January 2025 to succeed term-limited [[Gretchen Whitmer]]. On August 4, 2026 she won the Democratic primary with **83%** over Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson. Her running mate is Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks. Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's independent campaign, which had drawn voters from both parties, ended in May 2026. That left a two-way race against Republican [[John James]]. September polling averages put Benson ahead by about 7 points, and most forecasters rate the race Lean or Likely Democratic. ## Why she matters here A win would put an election administrator who was personally targeted by Stop the Steal in charge of a presidential swing state for the 2028 election. Her tenure is also the vault's main Michigan case for the [[America PAC Canvassing Scandal]] and the pressure campaign on local election officials. See [[Battleground Election Officials Hub]]. ## See also - [[John James]] · [[Gretchen Whitmer]] · [[Dana Nessel]] · [[2026 Governor Races Hub]] · [[2026 Key State Races Hub]] - [[Stop the Steal]] · [[Kristina Karamo]] · [[Battleground Election Officials Hub]] · [[State Officials Hub]]