Michigan Republicans ask Justice Department to oversee state's 2026 elections

State elections are generally overseen by the state's secretary of state, which in this case is Democrat Jocelyn Benson. The letter argued Benson has “an inherent and unavoidable conflict of interest” because she is running for governor.

By Misty Severi

Published: November 14, 2025 9:07pm

Michigan state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt led 21 of his Republican colleagues Thursday in sending a letter to the Justice Department and Attorney General Pam Bondi, asking the government to come oversee the state's 2026 elections.

State elections are generally overseen by the state's secretary of state, which in this case is Democrat Jocelyn Benson. The state senators argued Benson has “an inherent and unavoidable conflict of interest” because she is running for governor.

The letter asked Bondi to “deploy official election monitors and provide comprehensive oversight” of the state's primary and general elections next year, and invited observation of “polling places, absentee ballot processing, voter registration activities and central count facilities across Michigan."

"Here we have Jocelyn Benson last year allowing Chinese nationals to vote in our elections," Nesbitt said on Friday's episode of the "Just The News, No Noise" TV show. "We have over 100% voter registration here in Michigan, and we have the secretary of state running to be the next governor.

"She's lost lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit over the last seven years as she's been secretary of state here in Michigan," he continued. "She's ignoring subpoenas from the Michigan State House right now. She's ignored court orders in the past. She has a history of not following the law, and she needs to have some oversight over her."

Benson's spokesperson, Angela Benander, told the news outlet Bridge Michigan that the secretary running for governor should not be an issue because other secretaries of state have done so in the past, including one of the signatories, former Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, who is now in the state senate.

“Yet by pouring gasoline on our democracy and asking the DOJ to light a match, these lawmakers ignore these truths,” Benander said. “They instead use dangerous, false rhetoric to encourage President Trump to illegally interfere in our state’s ability to hold fair and free elections.”

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.