Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has won the race for governor, according to an NBC News projection, defeating Republican Rep. John James. Benson will replace fellow Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, who is leaving office because of term limits. The result extends Democratic control of the governorship for another four years.
The victory marks the first time since the 1960s that Michigan voters have chosen a Democrat to follow a Democratic governor. For James, the defeat leaves him without an elected office. Benson’s win comes as Democrats also pursue the legislative majorities they would need to control the state government.
Democrats hold Michigan’s state Senate, but Republicans control the state House. To secure full control of state government alongside Benson’s victory, Democrats would need a net gain of four House seats while retaining their Senate majority. The governor’s race took place in a state that Donald Trump won by a little more than 1 percentage point in the 2024 presidential election.
Michigan is also the site of a nationally watched contest for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democrat Gary Peters. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers are competing for that seat as Democrats work to keep it in their party’s hands.
Benson has served as secretary of state since 2019. Her role as the battleground state’s chief election officer brought her national attention during Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. An attorney and Harvard Law School graduate, she previously taught law at Wayne State University and later became its law school dean.
Trump’s support helped James through the Republican primary, but James sought some separation from him during the closing weeks of the general election campaign. He removed some references to Trump from his campaign website. During an early October debate, James said he would challenge Trump over matters including the Iran war and tariffs on Canada, which have affected Michigan particularly hard. Benson faulted James for not supporting congressional resolutions to end the war.
Data centers were another point of contention between the candidates, with both accusing the other of benefiting financially from them. James alleged that Benson’s family had profited from the construction of a data center, an accusation she denied.
Benson, in turn, accused James of voting for policies favorable to data centers while owning stocks tied to them. James responded that any data center-related stocks he held were part of broad mutual funds.
