Added on June 27, 2022  Sara Swanson

Who is running for attorney general and secretary of state in Michigan in 2022

by Lauren Gibbons (Bridge)

Who is running for attorney general

Come November, Michigan voters will choose between two polars vying to serve as the state’s top law enforcement official.

Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, is running for a second and final four-year term against presumed opponent Matthew DePerno, a Portage attorney who is known for his ongoing legal battles questioning the results of the 2020 election.

Nessel is a staunch progressive who says she won’t enforce a state law banning abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned. DePerno is conservative and a favorite of former President Donald Trump who has claimed he will prosecute Nessel if he’s elected.

The attorney general’s office has a $108 million budget. It represents the governor and Legislature in court and legal disputes. The office is tasked with ensuring consumer protection, public safety, civil suits, victims rights and addressing illegal business practices.

There isn’t a primary election for attorney general and secretary of state candidates in Michigan — candidates are instead chosen by delegates of their political parties.

Nessel went unchallenged to run for reelection at the state Democratic convention in April. DePerno defeated former House Speaker Tom Leonard and Rep. Ryan Berman in the GOP convention.

DePerno’s nomination won’t be official until August, but the party is treating winners of the endorsement convention as official nominees so they can begin campaigning for the November general election.

The post pays $112,000. Read on to learn more about the two candidates and follow the links for additional information from their official campaign websites.

Dana Nessel, incumbent Democrat

Visit her website at https://www.dananessel.com/

Dana Nessel, of Plymouth, is a former assistant prosecutor in Wayne County and defense attorney who became known for her work on a landmark case that found Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional. The case eventually helped lead to the legalization of same-sex marriage around the country.

Nessel is the first openly gay person to run for statewide office in Michigan, and won election in 2018 in a close race against Leonard.

Nessel campaigned on progressive causes such as shutting down the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac and fighting for LGBTQ and immigrant civil rights.

She was vocal about reversing policies from her predecessor, Attorney General Bill Schuette, and fighting the Trump administration. During her tenure, she’s investigated abuse in the Catholic Church, handled criminal charges and investigations related to the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal and has continued a legal battle with Enbridge over the pipeline, which is still in operation.

Nessel’s office also dismissed pending criminal cases tied to the Flint Water Crisis, saying it was reopening the investigation.

Nessel’s political style and sense of humor has won her fans, but alienated others. A recent comment  — which she said was a joke — saying that all schools should have a drag queen prompted near immediate backlash, as did an admission that she had too much to drink at a college football game last fall.

Nessel’s office is currently investigating, at the request of the state’s GOP-led Senate Oversight committee, those who spread false information about the 2020 election “to raise money or publicity for their own ends.”

Nessel attended the University of Michigan and earned her law degree from Wayne State University Law School.

Matthew DePerno, Republican

Visit his website at https://www.depernoformi.com/

Matthew DePerno is a Portage-based attorney best known for his lawsuit over Antrim County election results, which triggered ongoing conspiracy theories over voting machines and put him on the frontlines of Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 contest.

He also represented former state Rep. Todd Courser in a sex scandal cover-up case that concluded with Courser pleading no-contest no contest to willful neglect of duty by a public officer.

DePerno, endorsed by Trump, is a leading advocate for a “forensic audit” of the 2020 election, something he continues to fight for in Antrim County.

The Antrim County case made DePerno a national figure in Trump’s campaign to overturn the election but prompted criticism from a Republican-led Michigan Senate panel that accused him of making false claims for personal profit. DePerno raised nearly $400,000 for an “Election Fraud Defense Fund” in 2020, and critics have urged him to disclose what he did with the money.

In addition to Nessel, DePerno has claimed he wants to prosecute Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, both Democrats, for “for all the damage they have done” in office.

DePerno has also said he supports and would enforce the state’s 1931 ban on abortion.

As a tax attorney who worked primarily in Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties, DePerno was fired from one law firm, fought over client records after leaving a second firm and was accused of assaulting a client amid a fee dispute, according to court documents and transcripts reviewed by Bridge.

DePerno sued the first firm over his firing and denied the allegations in court. But he told Bridge he cannot discuss details because of a confidential settlement.

DePerno’s supporters and many clients defend his legal work. One client told Bridge DePerno is a “workaholic” who goes to great lengths for his clients and is like an “encyclopedia” of law and the Constitution.

DePerno attended the University of Michigan and later earned law degrees from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and New York University School of Law.

Who is running for secretary of state

The Michigan official who helped oversee the 2020 elections is up for re-election against a challenger who questions their legitimacy.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Detroit Democrat, was first elected in 2018 and is running for a second and final four-year term. Her presumed Republican challenger is Kristina Karamo of Oak Park, a 2020 poll challenger who rose to prominence after questioning the state’s election results.

As the third-highest ranking public official in Michigan, the secretary of state oversees the administration of state elections in 1,000-plus local municipalities. In addition to elections, the secretary of state runs 131 branch offices that handle vehicle registrations, driver license renewals and more. The department operates under a $252.2 million budget.

There isn’t a primary election for attorney general and secretary of state candidates in Michigan — candidates are instead chosen by delegates of their respective political parties.

Benson went unchallenged at the state Democratic convention in April. Karamo handily defeated fellow Republicans Beau LaFave, a state representative, and Chesterfield Township Clerk Cindy Berry with 67% of the vote.

Karamo’s nomination won’t be official until August, but the party is treating winners of the endorsement convention as official nominees so they can begin campaigning for the November general election.

The post pays $112,000. Read on to learn more about the two candidates and find additional information in links to their candidate websites.

Jocelyn Benson, Democratic incumbent

Visit her website at https://votebenson.com/

Benson won office in 2018 in her second bid for the position, after she lost in 2010 as she’d lost to Ruth Johnson, a Republican.

As a candidate, Benson promised that customers at branch offices would wait 30 minutes or less for appointments. But the waits got worse  in many locations before the COVID-19 pandemic, and an appointment-only system implemented during the pandemic proved unpopular among Republicans and some Democrats.

This year, Secretary of State records show visits to branch offices are completed in less than 20 minutes, and the percentage of transactions that are conducted online or at self-service stations has increased to 60% from 28% in 2018.

Benson oversaw the 2020 election, the state’s first since no-reason absentee voting was allowed as part of a 2018 constitutional amendment. She used $4.2 million in federal funding to send all registered voters absentee ballot applications, a decision that was criticized by Republicans but upheld in court.

Benson has called the elections the most secure in Michigan history. She told Bridge Michigan in April that she sees the biggest challenge ahead as the disinformation surrounding Michigan’s election process, citing persistent claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen, despite numerous audits and investigations confirming President Joe Biden’s victory.

Benson wrote a book about secretaries of state in 2010 and served as dean of the Wayne State University School of Law from 2012 to 2016. She also served as the CEO of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE), a venture by professional sports organizations to improve race relations.

She has an undergraduate degree from Wellesley College and a law degree from Harvard University.

Kristina Karamo

Visit her website at https://kristinakaramo.com/

Until November 2020, Kristina Karamo was mostly unknown in Michigan politics outside of Oakland County, where she volunteered in state and local roles and unsuccessfully ran for a county commissioner seat.

Then the Oak Park Republican skyrocketed to fame in conservative circles after claiming she witnessed fraud at Detroit’s absentee counting board while working as a poll challenger in November 2020. She submitted an affidavit on an “incident report” document cited in a lawsuit seeking to overturn the official results.

Among other things, Karamo claimed that an election supervisor told a clerk to “push through” contested ballots that favored Democrats and that ballots were delivered between 3 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., a claim that has been widely debunked.

Karamo, a community college instructor, was interested in politics and social issues long before that, however, espousing her views on the Christian faith, education, the role of government and sexuality on her website and podcast.

As a candidate, Karamo has frequently called for a “forensic audit” of the 2020 election, and has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

She counts herself among the “America First” coalition of Trump-aligned secretary of state candidates who supporters say will fix election issues and critics claim would find a way to guarantee Trump wins if he seeks re-election.

If elected, Karamo says she would continue investigating election fraud claims, but it would not be her sole focus. She has also expressed interest in a thorough review of voting machines used throughout the state to verify their security and in reducing regulations at Secretary of State branch offices.

She graduated from Oakland University with a bachelor’s degree in communications and later earned a master’s degree from Biola University in La Mirada, California, in Christian apologetics, the study of facts to defend Christian theology.

Karamo has also volunteered in local politics, serving as communications chair for the Oakland County Republican Party, and as a member of the Michigan Republican Party State Committee and the Black leadership committee of Right to Life Michigan.

In 2018, she unsuccessfully ran to serve as Oakland County Commissioner for the 10th District, pulling in less than 40% of the total vote in the Republican primary.