It’s only been two days since Jocelyn Benson announced her campaign for governor, and already endorsements are rolling in for “Minnesota’s Secretary of State.”

“Jocelyn Benson has had a very bad start to her extreme leftist campaign for Michigan Governor,” Michigan Republican activist David Yardley posted to Facebook on Thursday, along win a Benson endorsement from Star Trek actor George Takei.

“1st she accidentally puts out a fundraising request before formally announcing, then illegally uses a state building she controls as Secretary of State to make her announcement and now California leftist George Takei endorses her for Governor of Minnesota LOL,” Yardley wrote.

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The post included an image of the endorsement from the 87-year-old actor. Takei is best known for portraying Sulu in the television series Star Trek and subsequent films featuring the original cast members. He is a prominent activist for LGBTQ rights, illegal immigration and other progressive politics.

“I am so excited to endorse Jocelyn Benson for Governor of Minnesota,” the post read. “We share a passion for marathon running. Just as she has conquered the miles, I am confident she will tackle the challenges facing Minnesota with the same determination and spirit she exhibits as Minnesota’s Secretary of State.”

Takei’s post, which went up on both Facebook and Twitter and included an image of Takei and Benson posing with a Vulcan “Live Long and Prosper” salute, has since been corrected.

Benson responded to the edited post on X, but did not acknowledge the snafu.

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“Thank you @georgetakei for your friendship, support, and unwavering commitment to justice and inclusion,” Benson wrote. “I’m proud to have you with us in this fight.”

Other endorsements since Benson’s botched campaign launch have come from Grand Rapids Mayor David LaGrand, abortion activists at EMILYs List, End Citizens United, and several Democratic state lawmakers.

On Tuesday, Benson posted and then deleted an image of herself posing in a pink blazer next to her “Jocelyn Benson for Governor” logo with a link to a donation page for ActBlue, Democrats’ favorite fundraising platform, that did not work.

“Inadvertently announcing your gubernatorial campaign with a premature social media post? A significant SNAFU, sure,” Bridge Michigan reporter Simon Schuster posted to X. “But then blocking the 5,000 (max) terminally online state political obsessive that’ll catch this from donating? Not sure what that helps.”

Benson’s announcement was quickly removed, and her campaign page went blank. A short time later, it was password-protected, WILX reports.

Benson eventually reposted her announcement on Wednesday with a video of the 47-year-old former hate crimes investigator for the disgraced Southern Poverty Law Center literally running in the middle of the road. The post was accompanied by a second with the ActBlue link urging her followers to “Become a Founding Member of our campaign for Michigan’s future.”

The Secretary of State also bungled her in-person announcement, prompting at least one campaign finance complaint to her department.

“Today, I filed a campaign finance complaint against @JocelynBenson for utilizing public resources during her Gubernatorial campaign announcement, and for abusing the office of Secretary of State to collect information that would later inform her run,” Christian Charette, a public library employee who ran unsuccessfully to represent the state’s 22nd House District, posted to X Wednesday.

“Jocelyn Benson isn’t shy about touting her ‘administrative abilities’ to ensure #Michigan election laws are followed,” he wrote. “It is unconscionable for her to excuse herself from these same stringent standards.”

The attached complaint noted Benson announced she will oversee her own election for governor at a press conference “in the lobby of a building operated and maintained with public funds.”

“In an interview with WILX … Benson has admitted to using her office over the last several weeks and months to conduct ‘Community Conversations’ across the state, which helped her inform herself of the issues (to eventually run for Governor),” the complaint read.

“Also in this interview, when asked about why the press conference was inside (reporters mentioning that candidates have routinely been barred from filming their announcements inside publicly owned buildings and instead had to film on the steps of the entrance) she nervously laughed and stated ‘it’s cold.’”

Charette’s X post continued: “You say you stand up to bullies and fight for transparency, Ms. Benson, Well, so do I.”

Benson said in her WILX interview that “it’s really important that we as leaders recognize that government must work for everyone, it must be transparent to everyone and accountable to everyone.”

In the complaint, Charette points to Michigan statute MCL 169.257, which states “A public body or person acting for a public body shall not use or authorize for use the funds, personnel, office space, computer hardware or software, property, stationary, postage, vehicles, equipment, supplies, or other public resources to make a contribution or expenditure or provide volunteer personal services that are excluded from the definition of contribution” under the law.

The Midwesterner has sent repeated requests to Benson spokeswoman Angela Benander for clarification on whether the Secretary of State’s recent “Community Conversations” with constituents was paid for by taxpayers, or her campaign.

Benson banned The Midwesterner from streaming those events live.

Benander did not respond to The Midwesterner’s community conversations inquiries, or another sent Thursday requesting information about how Benson intends to handle the campaign finance complaint from Charette.

Benson’s Bureau of Elections typically investigates complaints, although her “Campaign Finance and Financial Disclosure Complaint Guidebook” states “if the complaint alleges a financial disclosure act violation by the secretary of state or their spouse, the Department will refer the matter to the attorney general to determine whether a violation has occurred.”

The campaign finance complaint filed against Benson on Wednesday follows numerous others involving the Secretary of State that have been filed with various courts, the State Bar of Michigan, the Michigan Supreme Court, and elsewhere.

The most egregious involve relaxed rules for absentee voting, unethical campaign contributions from Benson’s Michigan Legacy PAC to sitting Michigan Supreme Court Justice Kyra Bolden overseeing cases against the Secretary of State, refusal to purge the state’s bloated voter rolls, and allegations Benson leveraged her office to boost voter registrations in Democratic areas of the state.

The Secretary of State also faced a campaign finance complaint in November alleging Benson knowingly misused taxpayer resources to promote content linked to her political campaign’s social media.

This week’s botched campaign announcement followed just 18 days after the Secretary of State took to X to declare her expertise in governmental operations.

“I know how to make government work – not because I’ve talked or posted about it,” Benson posted on Jan. 4. “But because I have done it every day as Michigan’s Secretary of State.”