Democrat Jocelyn Benson won reelection as Michigan’s secretary of state, beating back a challenge from a candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Benson defeated Republican Kristina Karamo, a local Republican activist and community college instructor, 55 percent to 42 percent when the Associated Press called the race.
Benson rose to national prominence in the run-up to and aftermath of the 2020 election, where she defended the legitimacy of her state’s elections after attacks from Trump and his allies, and also co-chaired the National Association of Secretaries of State’s election committee during the 2020 election. She was among the most recognizable chief election officials in the country and has been a regular on cable news.
Karamo, her opponent, was part of a network of election deniers called the America First Secretary of State Coalition. Broadly, the network looked to undermine confidence in the 2020 election and supported more restrictive voter laws. More recently, she said that threats and harassment directed at local election officials were made up by her opponent.
Karamo also regularly alludes to a conspiracy theory that voting machines had flipped votes in the state, and previously said that the Jan. 6 rioters at the U.S. Capitol were plants.
Benson’s reelection campaign was aided by waves of television ads in the state that ripped into Karamo, replaying comments where she had compared abortion to child sacrifice. Benson’s campaign and Democratic outside groups spent $10 million on ads in the state, while Karamo had no outside help, barely cracking six figures in spending herself.
Benson’s most-played ad focused on her improving lines at local offices — the secretary of state in Michigan also oversees the state’s department of motor vehicles — and running elections that “are secure, free and fair.”
Benson’s race is one of a trio of competitive statewide races in Michigan, where Democratic women control all three of the state’s top election offices.
