Jocelyn Benson wins Michigan governor’s race, extending Democratic control

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 Rep. John James, who now finds himself without an elected office. It’s the first time since the 1960s that a Democrat will succeed a Democratic governor. Benson won as Michigan Democrats seek state legislative majorities to go with the governorship. The Democratic Party holds the state Senate but not the state House. Democrats would have to net four House seats and hold the Senate to secure full control of the state government. Democrats are also working to defend retiring Sen. Gary Peters’ seat, as Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers battle in a race that has drawn national attention. Donald Trump carried the state by a little over 1 percentage point in the 2024 presidential election. Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state since 2019, gained national prominence as the chief election officer for the battleground state as Trump tried 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 went on to be dean. James was boosted by Trump, carrying him through his GOP primary. But he also sought to get some distance from Trump in the weeks leading up to the general election. James removed certain mentions of Trump from his campaign website, and at a debate in early October, he argued he would stand up to Trump on issues like the Iran war 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 also sparred over data centers, with each saying the other profited from them. James accused Benson’s family of profiting from the construction of one data center, which she denied, while Benson said James had voted in favor of policies that favored data centers while he held stocks in them. James said any stocks related to data centers were held in broad mutual funds.