Jocelyn Benson, John James say Michigan needs change. Agreements end there

Michigan gubernatorial candidates make closing arguments before Nov. 3 election, both vowing change
John James blames Democrats for Michigan’s problems, Jocelyn Benson points finger at Trump
Both candidates are focused on turning out supporters in the final week of campaign

LANSING TOWNSHIP — One week from a pivotal midterm election, gubernatorial rivals John James and Jocelyn Benson agree Michigan needs change, but their closing arguments hinge on who’s to blame for that need.

Benson’s finger is firmly pointed at Washington, as she and fellow Democrats seek to tie Republicans up and down the ballot to President Donald Trump, whose approval ratings are underwater in Michigan polls.

James, she told supporters during a Flint stop on her “driving down costs” bus tour, “is only in this for himself, his donors and Donald Trump.”

Democrats have held Michigan’s top elected offices for the past eight years, but to hear Benson tell it, her campaign is still about change.

She promised that putting Democrats in power will bring lower prices on gas, healthcare and lessening tariff-related pain — all issues in which the federal government plays a major role.

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It’s a split screen from James, a Republican member of the US House who cites Michigan’s sliding rankings on literacy, economics and infrastructure in nearly every speech and lays blame squarely at Democrats’ feet.

“We’re talking about the same things that the people are talking about,” James told reporters over the weekend after a campaign stop in Lansing Township, citing high gas and electricity prices, along with Michigan schools’ languishing test scores under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“These are national issues, but (Michigan is) doing worse,” he added.

But in the shadow of Michigan’s behemoth $350 million-plus US Senate race, it’s not clear whether his message has been able to reach voters.

After eight years under a governor from one party, Michigan voters have typically elected a successor from the opposite party, a trend that should benefit James. But midterm elections are also typically a referendum on the president, and Trump remains the center of gravity in most contests.

Trump has become the “dividing line” in this election, said pollster Richard Czuba,

“Republicans had a terrific opportunity here in Michigan to really make this a Michigan-centric campaign” but “Donald Trump has made it impossible,” Czuba told Bridge Michigan. “… He’s nationalized the election in Michigan, so voters are all making their decision based on Donald Trump.”

Czuba’s latest poll for The Detroit News and WDIV showed that health care costs are a top budget pressure for Michiganders — an issue Benson has hammered James on.

“When my opponent had a chance to fight for the people of Michigan, he chose instead to stand with Donald Trump and to raise the cost of health care for everyone,” she told reporters on Friday, citing his vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and against enhanced premium tax credits for healthcare plans purchased through the Affordable Care Act.

Rallying the faithful

The final stretch of the election, for both candidates, is about driving supporters to the polls to vote, said political consultant Adrian Hemond.

“The time for persuasion is basically long past at this point,” he added.

For Benson, that meant a “driving down costs” bus tour aimed at boosting candidates in Michigan’s most competitive state legislative districts alongside other major Democrats. She’s turned to allies like the Michigan Education Association and labor unions, urging their members to “vote for democracy.”

‘We’re gonna push for as many resources as we can,’ Republican gubernatorial nominee John James said Saturday after a campaign stop in Lansing Township (Simon Schuster/Bridge Michigan)

James, meanwhile, has held events aimed squarely at the Republican base: rallies with Trump in Port Huron on Sunday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Grand Rapids on Monday, and Vice President JD Vance in Howell on Tuesday.

Nearly 1.4 million Michiganders had already cast absentee or early in-person ballots by Tuesday morning, according to the Michigan Department of State. That’s nearly a third of the gubernatorial vote total in 2022, indicating the window for final arguments in the race is swiftly closing.

The poll from Czuba’s Glengariff Group firm found Benson about seven percentage points ahead of James. Most surveys have been within the margin of error, but Benson has consistently had a larger lead than her US Senate counterpart Abdul El-Sayed, who James has sought to tie her together with.

A financial imbalance

On the airwaves, television ad spending has favored Benson. As of Oct. 15, Democrats had reserved $13 million in airtime for the final stretch of the election, compared with $2.3 million for Republicans, according to AdImpact.

The gubernatorial race has been largely overshadowed by Michigan’s US Senate contest. There’s been $13.2 million in social media ad spending on the Senate race and just $1.8 million in the governor’s race, according to the ad tracking firm Adsmom.

James and his allies have deployed a novel last-minute tactic to attempt to counter Democrats’ spending advantage: funneling millions of dollars to the Michigan Republican Party, then spending the money on coordinated advertisements with the James campaign.

Neither James nor state party chair Jim Runestad would tell Bridge how much they plan to spend in that fashion, but disclosures filed Monday show $4 million has already been transferred to the party. Two members of the DeVos family helped kick-start the surge by giving a combined $2 million.

“We’re gonna push for as many resources as we can using Supreme Court rulings and also the precedent and examples set by other states,” James said.

The spending by the Michigan Republican Party appears to exceed legal limits under state law, but Republicans have cited a recent Supreme Court ruling on federal spending as evidence the move is now legal.

Democrats have responded with a campaign finance complaint and written TV stations urging them to charge the higher rates provided to outside spending groups, rather than a lower rate James qualifies for — though it’s unlikely to change GOP spending so close to Election Day.

“There is nothing that’s been done in the courts that would suggest that what they’re doing is correct,” Michigan Democratic Party chair Curtis Hertel said Monday, calling it a “dangerous precedent.”