Jocelyn Benson

In 2016, Jocelyn Benson finished the Boston Marathon while eight months pregnant, completing the course in six hours and twelve minutes.¹² Her husband accompanied her on a bicycle, cheering her on.¹ By 2025, she had completed more than thirty marathons and published a memoir, The Purposeful Warrior.³ She is the daughter of two special education teachers and attended Wellesley College.⁴

After college, she investigated extremist groups in Alabama and later studied connections between white supremacist movements in Britain and the United States.⁴ Her legal career brought her to Detroit as a clerk for federal Judge Damon J. Keith, followed by work at Wayne State University Law School.⁴ She became the school’s dean at 35.⁴

As secretary of state since 2019, Benson has expanded online services and replaced older kiosks with more than 160 stations, including machines inside grocery stores.⁵ Residents can renew vehicle registrations and replace or renew eligible licenses without visiting a branch office.⁵ Her department also replaced taking a ticket and waiting with scheduled appointments, while doubling the kinds of transactions available online.⁵

Running against Republican John James, she proposes free childcare, more housing and expanded rural health care.⁴⁶ Her energy platform calls for reducing utility costs and refusing contributions from energy companies and corporate political action committees.⁷ The winner will succeed Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, who cannot seek another term.⁶