- Republicans contend Democrat Jocelyn Benson should recuse herself from overseeing the 2026 election because she running for governor
- Benson is developing a conflict-of-interest avoidance guide to ‘reassure’ the public
- Bipartisan election officials say the system is designed to prevent undue political influence
LANSING — Amid Republican calls to recuse herself from overseeing fall elections she will compete in, Michigan Secretary of State and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson is preparing to release a new conflict-of-interest avoidance guide.
Benson has been developing the document for nearly a year with assistance from the Election Reformers Network, a progressive group that has developed recommendations to help secretaries of state build trust in elections when they are on the ballot.
Her office will finalize Benson’s plan “in the coming weeks,” spokesperson Angela Benander told Bridge Michigan.
“The public wants to know, and we want to reassure them,” she added.
It’s unclear whether Benson will try to adopt formal rules to avoid any potential conflicts, or whether she will simply pledge new safeguards to ensure fair administration of an election her office will oversee. Benander said they are “looking at the options we have within existing law.”
But the forthcoming document could address at least some of the concerns raised by Republican gubernatorial candidates hoping to face Benson in the general election.
While experts say those concerns are largely unfounded or overstated, multiple GOP hopefuls have questioned Benson’s ability to supervise fall elections as the state’s chief elections officer.
Last week, as he dropped off petition signatures to qualify for the August primary ballot, GOP gubernatorial candidate Perry Johnson suggested the federal government should be in charge of signature validation.
“I just think that because we end up having the secretary of state in charge of her own election, that she ought to recuse herself,” said Johnson, who was one of five candidates kept off the ballot in 2022 due to faulty signatures.
He went further on social media, arguing Benson “must recuse herself from overseeing this election” entirely.
Benson’s office called Johnson’s suggestion of a federal takeover “alarming” and noted “the federal government has no legal authority to run our elections.”
But he’s not alone. Fellow GOP candidate Aric Nesbitt has urged the US Department of Justice to oversee Michigan’s August primary and November general election, arguing Benson “cannot be trusted to manage” them.
But Democrats and Republican officials who have served at the center of Michigan election administration contend those claims misrepresent the electoral process and overstate Benson’s role.
Here are the facts.
‘I don’t think it’s a legitimate concern’
Whether it’s signature verification for candidates to get on the ballot or confirming vote tallies in November, the final sign-off on those weighty decisions rests with the Board of State Canvassers, a four-member bipartisan body.
Canvassers ultimately decide which candidates get on the ballot and certify election results, which are compiled by local election clerks across the state and are reviewed by county-level boards.
Citing those and other safeguards in the system, Benson’s office has pushed back on GOP candidate claims about the fall elections.
“Either these candidates for governor haven’t bothered to take a few minutes to read and understand Michigan Election Law or they know they’re spreading lies about the process,” said Benander, the state department spokesperson.
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Democratic and Republican state canvassers also disputed suggestions that Benson could influence or taint the signature verification process.
“I don’t think it’s a legitimate concern,” said Republican Chair Richard Houskamp. “Secretary Benson’s nowhere near those signatures.”
Democratic Vice Chair Mary Ellen Gurewitz agreed: “That’s just bullshit, and they know it,” she said of GOP candidates questioning the process. “The secretary of state is not involved (in signature verification). Never has been.”
The Michigan Bureau of Elections, which is part of Benson’s department but is staffed by nonpartisan civil service employees, reviews petition signatures submitted by candidates and recommends whether canvassers should certify them. Bureau of Elections Director Jonathan Brater serves as the board’s secretary under state law.
Houskamp noted that during his tenure on the board, Benson has never attended a meeting of his board. It’s an indication, to him, that the electoral system is working as intended.
As for vote counting, Michigan has a highly decentralized system. The state largely relies on the results submitted by local election officials, municipal and county clerks and certified by county canvassers.
“Even though those all route back to the Bureau of Elections, and we are the ones that certify the elections as the board of canvassers, Jocelyn Benson is not in a position to touch ballots or to handle signatures,” Houskamp said.
Room for guardrails?
It’s not just conservatives asking elected officials to consider conflicts of interest.
The progressive Election Reformers Network, which Benson’s office is working with to develop conflict guidance, has advised officials that “voters can worry about election officials overseeing their own races.”
The group also notes that “opposing candidates often exaggerate the risks for political gain.”
The network recommends that secretaries of state who will be on the ballot determine what decisions they may have to make that could create — or be perceived — to help their own election or party.
Those officials should assess any “legal and feasible” steps they could take to “reduce, suspend, or make more transparent their role in that decision.”
And the resulting conflict-of-interest avoidance program “should be made public, so it can help build voter confidence and demonstrate proactive effort to address voter concerns,” the groups said.
“Even if the assessment concludes that no options exist for secretaries to lawfully reduce their role in areas of potential conflict, that fact is important to make clear to voters.”
Chris Thomas, who served as Michigan’s director of election for 36 years under Republican and Democratic secretaries of state, said impugning the process is nothing new.
“People grab on to it as just a way to take shots at their opponents,” Thomas said. Asked about calls for the federal government to supervise Michigan elections, he let out a lengthy laugh.
Past secretaries of state have been candidates in elections they oversaw, including Benson’s predecessor, Republican Ruth Johnson, who won a state senate race while serving as secretary of state in 2019.
“Everyone has a boss,” said Thomas, acknowledging state elections directors work under partisan secretaries of state. But those secretaries of state have avoided major conflict of interest allegations by leaving election-related tasks to civil service employees, he added.
The US is an outlier among Western nations, many of which do more to insulate the electoral process from political influence, leaving oversight of elections to a central board of civil service officials.
“If somebody wants to make an argument we shouldn’t (have political appointees in the process), and has an idea about how else to do it — great, but just to use it as a stick to club somebody is really poor sportsmanship,” Thomas said.
Houskamp, the Republican who has served on the Board of State Canvassers for four years, told Bridge he worries about the pressure on the electoral system “every single day.”
“I’m very concerned that people are throwing rocks at a very fragile glass house in general, not just in terms of the things we do,” Houskamp said. “The procedures, the processes, these have become a favorite target for politicians on both sides of the aisle — I think that that’s not healthy.”
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