For months, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson raised the alarm that democracy itself was at stake in the 2024 election, but now she’s saying something else.
“I’m here today with a simple message for all of you,” Benson said at a Women for Harris event in September. “We can’t forget that we’re in the middle of a battle over the future of our democracy and our fundamental rights and our freedoms, and that this election is one that will determine that future for generations to come.”
She claimed in her call on Michiganders to report “misinformation” during the 2024 election is “critical to not only ensuring our elections are a secure and accurate reflection of the will of the people, but to the survival of our democratic process.”
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In those and countless other examples, Benson cast herself, alongside Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel, as “defenders of democracy” and saviors of a nation on the brink of dissolving into an autocracy.
Just one day after nearly 73 million Americans registered their disagreement and elected former President Donald Trump to a second term, including nearly 3 million in Michigan, Benson is sending a much different message.
“Friends, as we reflect on the events of the last 24 hours, I want to remind you all that democracy has never risen or fallen based on the actions of any one leader,” Benson posted to X on Wednesday. “It’s always thrived only when the American people demand that it does.”
Friends, as we reflect on the events of the last 24 hours, I want to remind you all that democracy has never risen or fallen based on the actions of any one leader. It’s always thrived only when the American people demand that it does.
So our charge, for all of us in the years… pic.twitter.com/RNiV6F4LSu
— Jocelyn Benson (@JocelynBenson) November 6, 2024
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While Benson is only one of a legion of Democrats in Michigan and beyond who framed the 2024 election and the 47th POTUS as an existential threat, her unrelenting focus on replacing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2026 makes her comments particularly relevant to Michiganders.
Benson’s fearmongering, however, is perhaps the least concern for voters who have followed the Secretary of State’s efforts to leverage her office to boost Democrats in 2024.
Those efforts – from election guidance deemed unconstitutional in Michigan courts, to her refusal to vet the state’s bloated voter rolls, to massive reelection campaign contributions for sitting Michigan Supreme Court Justice Kyra Bolden, who ruled on cases involving the Secretary of State, to partisan voter registration efforts – will undoubtedly face scrutiny from a new Republican majority in the Michigan House next year.
“Our hard-fought victory affirms that the people of Michigan want leaders who put them first, uphold the rule of law, and advocate for accountability at every level of government,” House Republican Leader Matt Hall said in a statement cited by MLive.
Accountability for Benson could also come from the State Bar of Michigan, which has received at least two complaints regarding the Secretary of State’s questionable behavior in and out of the courtroom leading up to the 2024 election.
Whether Benson is held accountable will determine the fate of what many believe is her long-term plan to seat herself in the governor’s mansion, following the example of her Democratic counterparts in other states.
“In regard to Jocelyn Benson, when we were running 14 years ago, she told one of my friends, ‘I’m running for secretary of state so I’ll have a podium to run for governor,” former Michigan Secretary of State Sen. Ruth Johnson told 2022 gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon on a recent podcast. “So you’re right, this has been long term.”
Dixon noted Benson “ran on being nonpartisan and I think this is something nationally we need to look at.
“You’ve got these secretaries of state who are running on being nonpartisan and then running their own elections to higher office,” Dixon said. “If you look at Arizona, Katie Hobbs was secretary of state, ran her own election to become governor.
“We know that’s Jocelyn Benson’s plan too,” she said. “She has made it clear she will run for governor.”