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The simmering hostility between legislative Republicans and Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson notched up to 11 this week as a GOP-led House committee voted along party lines to authorize a subpoena for election documents from the Secretary of State’s office. Benson, through a spokesperson, basically replied she’ll go to court rather than comply.
To put it simply, Republicans don’t trust that Benson isn’t gaming the system she oversees. Benson, meanwhile, is making it plain that she sees Republicans trying to undermine confidence in elections.
“The Michigan House of Representatives has the right to know how Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is instructing local election officials to conduct the elections within the state,” Republican Representative Jay DeBoyer told Rick this week on the It’s Just Politics podcast. DeBoyer chairs the Oversight Committee, the only committee in the House with subpoena power. “What is it they're trying to hide?”
Rick also spoke with Deputy Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie, whose purview includes election oversight. He says House Republicans have hijacked the Legislature’s oversight function and are abusing their subpoena power.
“This is their playbook,” he told Rick. “In 2020 and 2022 and 2024, Republicans decided to sow doubt in our election results well before voting even happens so that they can claim fraud. If they lose, they're simply trying to undermine our election system.”
The materials at issue here include non-public details from the Qualified Voter File, computer technology and procedures for securing ballots and voting equipment to keep them safe from tampering. The Secretary of State says the requested materials also include information that could help bad actors gain access to secure communications systems used to report problems and specific locations for election worker training.
The Secretary of State’s office has turned over hundreds and hundreds of documents already but they are slow-walking the rest of the requested materials in order to scrub them of information deemed “sensitive.”
So, to recap: the Democratic Secretary of State is telling Republicans they can’t be trusted with all the information and details of how elections are conducted in Michigan. Republicans conversely say the Secretary of State (who happens to be running for governor) doesn’t get to pick and choose what to share with a duly and legally appointed oversight body.
To date, the committee has only authorized the subpoena. No subpoena has actually been issued yet. That will be up to committee chair DeBoyer.
So, will it end up in court?
Well, we’ll see. As a practical matter, local clerks, poll watchers and political parties are watching what happens next so that they can prepare for the upcoming election cycle. That said, it’s sadly common in Michigan for challenges to election processes to proceed well into the election cycle.
All of which does nothing to instill confidence in elections.
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Have questions about Michigan politics? Or, just want to let us know what you want more of (less of?) in the newsletter? We always want to hear from you! Shoot us an email at politics@michiganpublic.org!
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IJP Podcast Logo/Wednesday’s IJP web post module: The Republican-led Michigan House Oversight Committee has authorized a subpoena targeting Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Zoe Clark and Rick Pluta look into the rare use of a subpoena in Lansing. Plus, former Republican Attorney General Mike Cox announces he’s running for Michigan governor in 2026 and joins the podcast.
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What we’re talking about at the dinner table
Formalizing: To no one’s surprise, former Michigan Republican Attorney General Mike Cox made it official this week with his announcement that he’s running for Governor in 2026. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise as Cox announced earlier this year that he had put a million dollars of his own money into a gubernatorial campaign committee. Cox joined us on It’s Just Politics this week and we asked him just how much he’s willing to spend. He didn’t say, specifically, but why would he? “Well, I'm out every day meeting voters, which is free, and trying to raise money to support the money I put in,” he said. “I wanted to show everyone I have skin in the game … It's not daddy's or mommy's money. It's my own money that I've made myself, and I want to show people that I'm willing to sacrifice my money and my time for the future of Michigan.” Cox is re-introducing himself to voters, many of whom might not remember that he served two terms as Michigan Attorney General (2003-2011) or that he ran for governor in 2010 but lost the Republican primary to Rick Snyder, who went on to win the general election.
Growing U.S. Senate race: Former Congressman Mike Rogers launched a second campaign for an open Michigan U.S. Senate seat after losing last year to now-Senator Elissa Slotkin, the Democratic nominee. This time, the seat is being vacated by Democratic Senator Gary Peters. A Republican has not represented Michigan in the Senate since Spencer Abraham’s single term from 1995-2001 (before he was unseated by Democratic nominee Debbie Stabenow). Another name emerging from the mists of Michigan political history is Abdul El-Sayed, who announced this week that he is running for the Democratic Senate nomination. El-Sayed is running in the hard-left progressive lane and says he would be a loud voice in the Senate in opposition to the policies of President Donald Trump. El-Sayed ran in the 2018 Democratic primary for governor, but lost to Gretchen Whitmer and we know how the rest of that played out. Both primaries are looking to be crowded and candidates who make it to the ballot can win the nomination with a plurality of votes. The more crowded the ballot, the more room for surprises in the primaries.
Wait, what?: This is just too odd not to bring up. Democratic state Representative Julie Brixie and a friend were caught on camera this week plastic-wrapping the BMW that Republican Representative Matt Maddock had driven to the Capitol. The car was parked straddling two spaces in a parking lot reserved for lawmakers and staff. (One of the spaces apparently belonged to Brixie.) The Capitol newsletter MIRS posted a photo on social media. Brixie told The Detroit News she was trying to help Maddock by adding “an extra layer of protection.” We’ll see what the consequences might be for Brixie as Republicans weren’t left laughing.
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Yours in political nerdiness,
Rick Pluta & Zoe Clark
Co-hosts, It’s Just Politics
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