With the holiday season quickly approaching, it’s easy to lose sight of the impending 2026 midterms. However, the candidates sure haven’t! That’s why Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Secretary of State and candidate for Governor, is hard at work on the campaign trail.
Today, Benson joins Jen to discuss how her race is going so far, the devastating impacts that will hit Michiganders if a healthcare deal is not reached (and soon), and how she can appeal to both Democrats and Republicans in purple Michigan.
Jocelyn Benson is Michigan’s 43rd Secretary of State. She is graduate of Harvard Law School and expert on civil rights law, education law and election law. Now, Benson is running for Michigan Governor. Click here to learn more about her campaign.
The following transcript has been edited for formatting.
Jen Rubin
Hi, this is Jen Rubin, Editor-in-Chief of the Contrarian. We are delighted to have back Jocelyn Benson, who’s the Secretary of State and a candidate for Governor in Michigan. Welcome, Jocelyn!
Jocelyn Benson
Hi, Jen, good to be back!
Jen Rubin
It is great to have you. So, your governor’s race, how is it going so far?
Jocelyn Benson
Well, it’s great, and, you know, thanks for having me to talk about it, and talk about what’s going on. I’m really proud of what we’re doing, what we’re building in Michigan. I’m a mom of a 9-year-old little boy, and everything we do over the next decade is going to define his childhood and his future, and the future of our loved ones all across this country, and so I’m running with this great sense of urgency and determination to make sure, you know, at a time where the affordability of everything is rising, the wages are stagnant, and we’re defending our democracy in a very critical, existential way.
I’m proud to be seeking to be a governor that can tackle affordability as a seasoned administrator of one of our largest agencies. Especially ensure healthcare and energy costs are affordable for folks, but we’re also taking on corruption and the need to get corporate money out of politics and recognize Michigan and governors together, Governors of Michigan, especially, are really the last line of defense against the atrocities that we’re seeing come out of the federal government right now. So I’m ready to stand up to bullies. And, and protect the people of our state, but do so with an eye towards making life affordable for everyone.
Jen Rubin
We talked to you today on Thursday afternoon. They have voted in the Senate twice now, and lo and behold, we have no bill to extend the ACA credits. What does that mean in Michigan? How many people do you think are going to be priced out of their insurance?
Jocelyn Benson
Oh, hundreds of thousands, close to a million residents are—I mean, it’s the number one issue I hear about in every corner of the state right now. Affordability, and specifically affordability of healthcare, given the federal cuts that are… you know, we have to keep asking, why? Why are we even fighting over whether or not to ensure everyone has access to quality, affordable healthcare? And it’s to give tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy, right? To Trump and his friends, to help them make money off of the struggles that everyday citizens, Michiganders, are dealing with.
And so that makes it particularly cruel, especially in this moment, and it is reinforced in every conversation I have, in every town hall, in every meeting, in every interaction. I’ve heard story after story of people who are Struggling to afford to find a place to live, and put food on the table, and get kids the childcare, and then on top of that, they’re stressing that not only can they maybe not pay their current healthcare bills, but they could be one catastrophic illness away from bankruptcy. I mean, that’s real for Republicans, for Democrats, for independents, urban citizens, rural citizens, everywhere in the state. It is heartbreaking, and I just think, you know, what are we doing as leaders if we are not tackling this crisis and taking it head on?
Jen Rubin
We’re also gonna see next year, the, advent, eventually, of the, really exacting, Medicaid cuts. And I think, in many states, they are already beginning to feel the pinch, because in particular, rural hospitals are looking ahead to their planning for next year. What effect is that going to have in Michigan in terms of numbers of people who are on Medicaid and the potential of closing the rural hospitals? And what, as governor, can you do about it? Obviously, you can’t Make up the difference entirely, but, what plans do you have to see if you can cushion the blow?
Jocelyn Benson
Well, yeah, the devastation is clear, and it’s statewide. I mean, particularly in rural communities, and there are a significant number of rural communities where there are rural hospitals that are, for residents there, the only access, only source of healthcare, and they’re employers in those communities. And so, the devastation, the closing of… the potential closing of rural hospitals and healthcare facilities in areas like the Upper Peninsula, northern Michigan, even southwest Michigan, and areas like Albion and Hillsdale in our state, it can be devastating not just to the health access for residents, not just for reproductive care, for care for seniors, and everything in between. but also for the economy, for the loss of jobs that those closures create. So as governor, there are a number of things you can do to, as you say, not completely address the problem, because we need the federal government to play a role here, but we can mitigate the negative impact. Our Department of Health and Human Services has long been a challenge and an opportunity for a governor like myself, who can come in and run agencies well. to ensure we’re cutting costs where we can and delivering those cost savings on to residents in the form of healthcare support and benefits. And then also partnering with other governors, and frankly, even the philanthropic community to find ways to fill the gap and identify ways to ensure our rural hospitals are able to stay open, that we’re able to provide support for patients, doctors, and nurses, and do so in partnership with neighboring states, because healthcare knows no boundaries, and certainly the struggles of Ohioans and folks in Indiana and Wisconsin are similar to what we’re dealing with in Michigan. So I’ll also talk with governors and identify economies of scale that we can identify to cut costs of healthcare, but also ensure we’re doing everything we can to make sure access is protected, particularly in our rural communities.
Jen Rubin
I just interviewed, Haley Stevens, who of course is a congresswoman now running for center, and she’s introduced a measure to impeach RFK Jr. We talked a lot about his changes in the vaccine, sort of structure and guidelines. If you’re governor, what are you going to do to maintain, Healthy protections for kids, for adults, for vulnerable populations, regardless of what the federal government does.
Jocelyn Benson
Well, that’s, again, where our Department of Health and Human Services is so critical. And you already see governors in the Pacific West, Northwest, partnering together to create additional vaccine protections, guidelines, and availability for residents in their states. And we’ll do the same in the Midwest, not just in Michigan, but work with governors in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, because all of our residents are feeling that same impact of the loss of healthcare and vaccination support, so by providing that state support and state guidelines, we can fill the gap that the federal government has created. But that also underscores why it’s so important to have a governor who understands how state government works, so that we can make all of the wheels run towards affordability and towards access, and towards addressing these critical gaps like vaccinations and the rest.
And, our Department of Health and Human Services, other than my agency, is the largest agency in the state. And what I’ve been able to do as Secretary of State is transform our department, among other things, it oversees motor vehicles. So I basically run the DMV, and it’s, you know, makes me very popular. But we’ve been able to eliminate wait times and increase efficiencies in that office. And by doing the same in the Department of Health and Human Services. We can really address and take on this increased need for state agencies and governors to work together to fill the gaps of the federal government’s failure to protect the citizens of our country.
Jen Rubin
In your current role as Secretary of State, I imagine you’ve come under pressure, as have other Secretaries of State, to turn over voter rolls, turn over other information to the federal government. What have you done, and how concerned are you about the federal government and the operation of the 2026 elections?
Jocelyn Benson
And 2028, which are just around the corner, and the presidential cycles coming up, and this really underscores why governors and state officials, like attorneys general and secretaries of State, are so critical right now in this moment of federal overreach, where the only guardrails left are our state leaders, and particularly governors, who will say no when, as I have done as Secretary of State, when federal officials demand access to private data of citizens and other types of things that really impede upon the safety and the privacy of all of our residents. So in our case, with the far-reaching demands of voter information, private information on voting that the federal government has no authority to access to, but they’re putting significant pressure on state officials to turn over.
It may seem like normal oversight, but in reality, it’s incredible overreach to use power, their power at the federal level, to try to intimidate local officials into turning over protected data, and then thereby enable that data to inform their ability to change voting processes to fit the president’s whims. And so this power grab is unprecedented. It is a direct threat to free and fair elections. There is no role for a president in overseeing elections. That’s the job of the states under our U.S. Constitution.
But at the same time, if you do not have state officials who know that, who are unwavering in their courage and devotion to the Constitution and to our democracy, you very easily could have officials who bend the knee and hand over the data, and in doing so. enable the president to dismantle democracy, not just in 26, but leading into 28. So that’s why these midterms are so critical for state officials. We need to elect folks in every state we can who will stand up to any bully, no matter how powerful, who would try to intimidate officials into handing over private data and other voting information that would harm the security and the accessibility and the accuracy, ultimately, of our elections.
Jen Rubin
In the immigration, realm, we’ve seen that against the wishes of a number of governors, the president has not only deployed the normal federal agencies, ICE and the Customs and Border Patrol, but actually the National Guard. If the president comes knocking, on your door, what would be your response, either to, frankly, National Guard, or these very draconian kind of raids and sweeps that come into cities, and have, frankly, swept up American citizens, as well as undocumented people, and the vast majority of whom who have been arrested, we now know, have no criminal records.
Jocelyn Benson
Yeah, it’s devastating, and again, another reason why governors are such critical guardrails in this moment. And I come from a military family. I also know the impact that it has on our military service members who sign up to serve their country and protect democracy and find that that oath abused by a president who would seemingly use the military to further his political agenda, as opposed to actually protect American interests. And so all of that is at play, and why governors must stand up, as J.B. Pritzker, I think, has done quite effectively, and call out the president on the lies and the misinformation and the abuse of our military, and stand in support of our service members and local law enforcement, who sign up to do a job, and they need to be able to do that job.
And that’s why, in addition to standing up to the president and saying no, which we need to be able to do, pointing out the hypocrisy and the misuse and abuse of military power, we also have to point to our local law enforcement and state police, who are under the purview of local governments in the state, and ask for more funding for that. I mean, if the president genuinely wants to ensure we… or working together to keep our communities safe, then help us fund the local officials and the state police officers who signed up for that job and are working under challenging circumstances to do that. These folks know the state. They know the communities. They can help ensure the law is enforced without overreaching authority for a political agenda that really harms the fabric of every single community in the state.
Jen Rubin
Your governor, of course, was the target of a mind-boggling conspiracy to kidnap her, potentially murder her. We do have a lot of political violence, much too much in this country. How do you both stand up for the values that you have, and at the same time, try to get people to behave in a more civil fashion, and to condemn violence no matter where it comes up?
Jocelyn Benson
I think, and I, as you know, I’ve faced this as well, not to the same egregious extent of the governor, but certainly people showed up at my home with guns and protesting the results of… of the 2020 presidential election after they’d been fed lies by the president and others about it. And so I know firsthand the devastating, scary impact this era of political violence is having on state and local officials. who are doing their jobs and doing so under great pressure and tumult in this moment. And so, it’s very important that we support each other, that we provide that support so that we can be brave in the face of these threats, and that we use these threats as an opportunity to become emboldened in doing this work.
Because the goal of these threats is to make us afraid to do our jobs, to protect the Constitution, to protect the law, to stand in furtherance of the truth, and protect the voices of the people, and serve them effectively. So we have to be clear and unequivocal, every leader must be, and have unwavering moral courage in the face of these threats, while also condemning political violence every time it happens in all of its forms, as I’ve consistently done, so that we can collectively send a message. I think Governor Shapiro and Governor Cox doing a joint conversation about this recently underscores how it needs to be a bipartisan message as well, because violence of any kind is unacceptable, and there’s no place for it in our democracy.
And it is going to take, I believe, governors, our respective CEOs of our states. who have a unique voice to say, no more. Civility must rule the day. We can work together and disagree without being disagreeable, and still try to get things done. And I think governors have a tremendous opportunity to lead that charge towards civility in a time when we’re not seeing that leadership coming. From the federal level, or from the president?
Jen Rubin
Michigan is the swingiest of swing states. It remains very evenly divided. You will likely need Republican votes, certainly independent votes, to win. What are you saying to voters who may have voted for President, Trump, may still agree or disagree with him, but have been lifelong Republicans? What do you say to them about why they should vote for a Democrat?
Jocelyn Benson
Well, many of them have voted for me in the past. This is actually my fourth statewide campaign, and every time I’ve been on the ballot, I’ve gained support from Republican and independent voters throughout the state. And in 2022, and just two years ago, I won by 14 points. Including in 3 counties, 3 red counties that no other Democrat won. Because I work on building those cross-partisan coalitions to support and win statewide, but I also deliver.
My office interacts with every resident of the state, ensuring they can vote and get their driver’s licenses and license plates efficiently and easily. Saving them time, saving them money, and making their lives a bit easier. So that actual nonpartisan approach to governance, data-driven, solution-oriented, bipartisan, has enabled me to win support, even from voters who have voted for for the president, perhaps even all the times he’s been on the ballot. But in doing so, I just see the person, not the party.
And my goal is to make sure, no matter who you are, or who you vote for, or what jersey you wear, or whether you can identify as a D or an R, as an Independent. That you know, under my leadership, government’s gonna work well for you, and it’s gonna save you money, and it’s gonna save you time, and it’s gonna protect you from those who would try to corruptly misuse or abuse their authority to hurt communities and to make life less affordable for our residents.
Jen Rubin
Your current governor ran on the message, the first time. I think she didn’t mean for it to be the message, but it became the slogan, Fix the Damn Roads. If you had to sum up what your campaign is about, maybe without, as snappy repartee as she came up with, what would you come up with? How would you describe what you’re all about?
Jocelyn Benson
I mean, reduce the costs, raise the wages, and defend democracy, right? Like, that’s it.
Jen Rubin
That’s pretty basic. Well, good luck in your continued campaign. We know it’s challenging times. Stay safe out there, and we will look forward to covering this race. Contrarians, we’re gonna be all over Michigan. The governor’s race, the Senate race, we’ve got House races, it really is going to be a fascinating political time. As you say, Jocelyn, Michigan’s often ground zero in American policy. politics, it certainly will be in 2026. So, best of luck to you, and have a happy holiday season.
Jocelyn Benson
Thank you, Jen. Thanks so much for having me, and folks can go to Jocelynbenson.com if they want to learn more about me, the campaign, or get involved. Have a great holiday, and thanks for having me on.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely.
