Jocelyn Benson

Democratic Party (D)
Governor · Michigan, United States of America · 2026
PurposeJocelyn Benson, Michigan's secretary of state, is running as the Democratic candidate to succeed term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan's open governor's race.

Economy
On the economy, the campaign frames its affordability agenda around housing, energy, and general cost of living, proposing to streamline regulations slowing home construction, incentivize starter homes, and crack down on corporate investors it says are driving up rents; it also proposes bringing the state's "Rx Kids" child-support program statewide as part of making childcare more affordable.

Health
On health care, the campaign describes Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services as broken and proposes a data-driven overhaul, expanded low- or no-cost preventive care, an independent Prescription Drug Affordability Board with power to review price increases, mandatory cost-transparency rules to end surprise billing, and medical-debt relief.

Education
On education, the campaign describes its approach as building toward a "world-class North Star" benchmark for the state's public schools and says it will work with educators, parents, and students on data-driven, results-focused reforms, though the education issue page itself does not lay out specific policy mechanics beyond referencing a fuller plan available as a downloadable PDF.

Governance
The broader campaign message frames government inefficiency and "corporate greed" as the core obstacles to affordability, drawing on Benson's record as Secretary of State reforming Michigan's elections systems as the model for how she says she would fix other state agencies.

Compiled from public sources. This entry was not submitted by the candidate or their team. It was researched and summarized by ElectionManifestos.org from public campaign statements and news coverage, because the candidate is standing in an upcoming election and no self-submission had been received yet.

Accountability updates

No updates yet. Once this candidate takes office (or is judged against this record), changes and comparisons will be logged here.

This entry is part of the permanent public record. It is not edited or removed after publication, except to correct a factual error in the candidate's name, office or region. Publication does not mean the claims in this manifesto have been fact-checked. Report a concern about this entry.

Open the interactive site → (search, filter, and compare candidates side by side)