Democrat Jocelyn Benson will be Michigan’s next governor, NBC News projects, succeeding term-limited Democrat Gretchen Whitmer to extend the party’s control for four more years.
Benson, who is Michigan’s secretary of state, defeated Republican John James, who now finds himself without elected office. This is the first time since the 1960s that a Democrat has succeeded a Democratic governor.
Benson won as Michigan Democrats sought state legislative majorities to go along with the governorship. The Democratic Party holds the state Senate but not the House of Representatives. Democrats would need to win four seats in the House and hold the Senate to ensure full control of state government.
Democrats are also working to defend incumbent Sen. Gary Peters’ seat, as Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers face off in a race that has drawn national attention. Donald Trump carried the state by just over a percentage point in the 2024 presidential election.
Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state since 2019, rose to national prominence as the battleground state’s elections director as Trump attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Benson is an attorney who graduated from Harvard Law School and taught law at Wayne State University, where she became dean.
James was boosted by Trump, who carried him through his Republican primary. But he also sought to distance himself from Trump in the weeks leading up to the general election.
James removed some mentions of Trump from his campaign website, and during a debate in early October, he said he would stand up to Trump on issues such as the war in Iran and tariffs on Canada, which have hit Michigan particularly hard. Benson criticized him for not voting for Congressional resolutions to end the war.
The two men also argued over data centers, with each claiming the other took advantage of them. James accused Benson’s family of profiting from building a data center, which she denied, while Benson said James voted in favor of policies favoring data centers while he owned stock there. James said all data center-related stocks were held in large mutual funds.
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