The position of secretary of state in Michigan is on the ballot this November, as current officeholder Jocelyn Benson prepares for her departure after reaching her two-term limit.
In Michigan, the secretary of state is the chief motor vehicle administrator and chief election officer. The secretary of state also serves as a voting member of several state boards and commissions. Some of these boards include the State Administrative Board, Governor’s Traffic Safety Advisory Commission and Michigan Truck Safety Commission. In the event of an absence from both the governor and lieutenant governor at the same time, the secretary of state would serve as governor.
The secretary of state also administers driver education and traffic safety programs, oversees document certification, manages the notary public program, maintains the state's official repository of records, state statutes and commercial financing statements, and administers the organ donor registry.
Republican Anthony Forlini, Democrat Garlin Gilchrist II and three third-party candidates are running for the position secretary of state this midterm election.
Scott Aughney (U.S. Taxpayers)
Scott Aughney is running for Michigan secretary of state as a member of the U.S. Taxpayers Party.
Eric Borregard (Green)
Eric Borregard is running for Michigan secretary of state as a member of the Green Party.
Borregard's campaign is centered around voting, focusing on candidate debates, rank choice voting and lowering the voting age.
Borregard hopes to have nonpartisan television debates sponsored by organizations like the League of Women Voters instead of debates he describes as being paid for by large media corporations with agendas.
He hopes to implement rank choice voting in Michigan and lower the voting age to 16, his campaign website says.
Rank choice voting allows voters more choice and opportunity to express their values by being able to rank candidates rather than picking one of two extremes, Borregard's campaign website says; he describes it as eliminating the idea of a wasted vote.
Borregard also wants to lower the voting age to 16 to give young people more power over their futures and the ability to fight back against what he calls the corporate machine, according to his campaign website.
Anthony Forlini (Republican)
Anthony Forlini is running as a Republican for Michigan secretary of state. Forlini is the current clerk of Macomb County and has previously represented the 24th District in the Michigan House of Representatives. He also owns his own business, Design Financial Inc.
Design Financial Inc. is a financial services firm that helps its clients improve their long-term financial success, according to its website. Additionally, Design Financial Inc. is a Michigan licensed agency of health and life insurance.
Forlini's campaign highlights four main issues: election integrity that builds public confidence, transparency Michigan residents can see, accountability and rule of law, and a high-performing office that respects citizens' time.
Forlini hopes to support election integrity by ensuring that tabulators are secure, verifiable and properly controlled; providing training and support for election workers; and keeping voter roles clean. He promises government transparency by pushing for clear public explanations of election processes, tools that make record requests more straightforward and timely, and transparency practices that reduce speculation by answering questions with facts.
Forlini's website says he will show his commitment to accountability and the rule of law by referring credible violations appropriately and working with law enforcement and prosecutors when warranted; publishing clear standards and performance expectations; measuring performance; reporting progress; and fixing what is not working. He will improve the reliability of services by improving standards, modernizing services and communicating better.
Garlin Gilchrist II (Democrat)
Garlin Gilchrist is running as a Democrat for Michigan secretary of state. Gilchrist currently serves as lieutenant governor alongside current Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Prior to being lieutenant governor, he worked as a software engineer at Microsoft, ran for Detroit city clerk and served as the City of Detroit’s director of innovation. Earlier this year, Gilchrist tossed his hat in the ring for the Democratic nominee for governor of Michigan, before suspending the campaign and launching his candidacy for secretary of state.
Gilchrist's campaign emphasizes four main points: fight for more legislative action that shines a light on what he calls dark money in politics; modernize licensing and registration by providing smarter, 21st century service; stand tall against big tech companies and the Trump administration, which Gilchrist says want to abuse personal voter registration information or license-plate data; and "hold accountable companies that rip you off when you get your car fixed," his campaign website said.
Christine Sloan (Libertarian)
Christine Sloan is running as a Libertarian for Michigan secretary of state.
Sloan's campaign lists four key priorities: accountability in Lansing, limited government and individual rights, privacy and protection from surveillance, and government transparency.
Sloan promises to be loyal to her constituents, not party leaders. She wants to limit the role of government to only protecting rights, maintaining services, and enforcing fair and consistent laws. Sloan promises to restrict the use of government surveillance tools, such as Flock cameras, and hold data collectors accountable. She hopes to push for open spending records, public budget hearings and plain language reporting on how tax dollars are spent.
Editor's note: Candidate information is gathered from publicly available online campaign materials. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name
