Jocelyn Benson, John James race may be eclipsed by interest in Senate campaign
Democratic Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, left, and Republican US Rep. John James, right, will face off in November for Michigan governor. But their race could be overshadowed by the high-stakes US Senate race in the state. Photos via The Associated Press.
The gubernatorial contest between Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and US Rep. John James could be dwarfed by Michigan’s high-profile US Senate contest.
Although the gubernatorial candidates will be literally on the top of the ticket on November election ballots, voter attention and ad spending likely will be eclipsed by the senatorial race between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican former congressman Mike Rogers — an election set to test the extent of progressives’ electoral power.
“Voters are attracted to competitive races,” said Matt Grossman, a professor of political science at Michigan State University. “The dynamics could change if, for example, one of the Senate candidates pulls away, but the governor’s race is still tight.”
Grossmann also noted El-Sayed’s candidacy could trigger an “extremism penalty,” in which more ideological candidates are hurt in general elections after emerging from competitive primaries. Benson’s broadly left-of-center appeal could offer advantages.
“Benson should outperform El-Sayed,” all else being equal, Grossmann said, but the unique circumstances of Michigan’s races could easily prove an exception to that trend.
State candidates now increasingly rely on the same voters as their high-profile federal counterparts to get elected, Grossmann noted, while that wasn’t previously the case.
Scott Greenlee, a Republican consultant who is working with GOP Secretary of State candidate Anthony Forlini, said Republicans will work to tie Benson and El-Sayed together.
“The Democratic Party nationally and in Michigan is moving more and more to a full-out embrace of socialism and even communism, and … I don’t think Michigan wants that,” Greenlee said. “That’s what we are essentially fighting for.”
In a “Republican Unity Luncheon” in Warren Wednesday, James rehashed much of his primary victory speech, casting the race as a change election after eight years of Democratic leadership in Lansing, during which the state declined on key metrics in education and economic growth.
“We have to prove that freedom works, that free enterprise works, that lower taxes work, that enforcing the law works, that phonics work, strong families, faith and freedom work,” James said in the address.
He argued, “Benson and the Democrats will just blame Trump because they don’t have anything else to run on” and that Benson is “teaming up with Abdul El-Sayed, the (Zohran) Mamdani of the Midwest, to impose socialism in sheep’s clothes and communism.”
Benson, in speaking to reporters after receiving Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s backing the day after the election, didn’t shy away from common ground between her own candidacy and El-Sayed’s and suggested she could be a “unifier” in her party.
“All of us as Democratic candidates want to reduce costs, grow our economy, increase wages, protect rights and freedoms and fight corruption,” Benson said. “That’s what everyone’s talking about in different ways.”
Adrian Hemond, a consultant and principal in the firm Grassroots Midwest, said he feels Benson’s emphasis on affordability with her mantra “costs down, wages up, rights protected,” could serve as the Democrat’s “electoral roadmap.”
“As long as that’s part of her message, she just has to be anti-Donald Trump because Democrats aren’t the ones that ran the economy into the ditch, and that’s all independents care about right now is how everything’s more expensive,” he said.
Benson waltzed into the nomination with close to 85% of the vote and won every county in the state on Tuesday, running on a platform of kitchen-table issues and administrative competence.
James had a more competitive primary against businessman Perry Johnson, but, with President Donald Trump’s endorsement, emerged victorious with about 50% of the vote to Johnson’s 35%.
Both James and Benson will also have to pick running mates in short order. Lieutenant governors are formally selected by party insiders at August nominating conventions, which Democrats and Republicans alike will hold later in August.
This article first appeared on Bridge Michigan and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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