Leveraging the Michigan Secretary of State’s social media to promote content linked to Jocelyn Benson’s Facebook page is not illegal, according to the department’s chief legal director.
Michigan Department of State Chief Legal Director Michael Brady explained his reasoning in a letter to Assistant Attorney General Joshua Booth that addressed a campaign finance complaint filed by former Macomb County Chief Deputy Clerk Paul Kardasz last year.
“The evidence submitted in this matter is insufficient to support a finding of a potential violation of the (Michigan Campaign Finance Act),” the letter reads. “The evidence does not establish that the posts or the act of sharing/tagging in the posts constitutes express advocacy, nor does the evidence show that the sharing or tagging in these posts results in an ascertainable monetary value. Therefore, the Department’s posts and actions do not contain the necessary elements to constitute an ‘expenditure’ or ‘contribution’ as is required to establish a violation.”
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The December letter came in response to a 40-page complaint from Kardasz that cited four examples of the Secretary of State’s Facebook page sharing content from Benson’s campaign Facebook page in late October, as well as other examples of mentions or tags promoting Benson or her campaign page.
The alleged violations came months before Benson, a former hate crimes investigator for the disgraced Southern Poverty Law Center, announced plans to oversee her own election for governor in 2026.
Benson acknowledged the Nov. 13 complaint and forwarded it to the Michigan Attorney General to investigate. Brady’s three-page response to the complaint was met with a 30-page rebuttal from Kardasz in late January that argued “the case … raises important questions regarding the evolving nature of digital communication and its regulation under the MCFA.”
Kardasz pointed to case law that established hyperlinks from a public website to a campaign website are akin to advertising that should be subject to the MCFA, and argued “this case asks whether similar actions, such as tagging, mentioning, and sharing content from a campaign’s social media page, should be regarded as functionally equivalent to hyperlinking and thus warrant the same level of scrutiny and regulation.”
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Kardasz further argued legal precedent suggests tagging or mentioning a campaign page may constitute an implicit endorsement, and those actions do have an inherent value similar to hyperlinks in prior cases.
“The case questions whether similar actions on social media, such as tagging and sharing, provide tangible value that could constitute a contribution or expenditure under the MCFA,” he wrote. “These questions reflect the need for modern interpretations of the MCFA that consider the unique challenges posed by evolving digital campaigning strategies.
“The outcome of this case will have far-reaching implications for the regulation of governmental social media practices and the integrity of Michigan’s electoral process.”
Kardasz also noted that unlike other politicians, Benson uses one social media page for both her campaign and public persona, “which is tied directly to her political committee rather than a separate state-funded page for official duties.”
“One of the most striking aspects of Benson’s social media management is that she has allowed her campaign page to be tagged, mentioned, and shared widely across social media, from the MDOS’ Facebook page, a publicly funded government platform, without a clear separation between campaign messaging and governmental activities,” the rebuttal read. “This is in stark contrast to the approach taken by Governor Whitmer, who consciously avoids engaging with her political campaign assets on her state-funded pages.”
Kardasz urged Brady to proceed with vetting the complaint “in accordance with the law and the Michigan Campaign Finance Act,” while Benson wants it dismissed.
The complaint is one of two lodged against Benson for campaign finance violations in recent months.
Another filed in January centers on the botched rollout of Benson’s gubernatorial campaign, with allegations she used taxpayer resources to promote herself.
Benson announced her campaign for governor “in the lobby of a building operated and maintained with public funds,” Christian Charette, a public library employee who ran unsuccessfully to represent the state’s 22nd House District, wrote in the complaint.
“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),” it continued.
“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.’”
The complaint cited 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 campaign finance complaints follow 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.
Some of those complaints have resulted in court decisions that ruled her election guidance unconstitutional, while others are still pending.
The most egregious examples 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.