Jocelyn Benson, who has cultivated a national profile during two terms as Michigan’s secretary of state, on Tuesday won the Democratic nomination for governor, The Associated Press said.
Ms. Benson is expected to face a competitive general election race as she aims to keep the governorship in Democratic hands. She will face Representative John James, whose congressional district is based in suburban Detroit, and who won the Republican primary on Tuesday, according to The A.P.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic incumbent, was barred by term limits from seeking re-election.
Michigan is a closely divided swing state that is crucial in presidential races. President Trump won Michigan in 2016 and 2024, but Joseph R. Biden Jr. carried the state in 2020.
Ms. Benson took on a public role in fighting attempts to overturn Mr. Biden’s victory and in defending the accuracy of Michigan’s election results. Since Mr. Trump returned to office, she has fought efforts to force the state to turn over its voter rolls to the federal government.
“Governors are guardrails,” Ms. Benson said at a forum this year hosted by the United Automobile Workers. “If you do not have a governor standing up to the president of the United States and saying, ‘No, I’ll see you in court,’ when you try to break the law,” she added, then “we’re in trouble.”
Michigan will once again be among the most closely watched places in the midterm elections this year, with statewide offices that will administer the next presidential election on the ballot and control of the State Legislature up for grabs. Voters will also choose a new U.S. senator in a race that will help determine control of that chamber.
Ms. Benson, a former law school dean, emerged early on as the front-runner in the Democratic primary for governor. She defeated Sheriff Chris Swanson of Genesee County, who has a large social media following and who spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Another opponent, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, withdrew from the race and is now running for secretary of state.
For months, Michigan had appeared on track for a competitive three-way campaign for governor that would have included Mike Duggan, a former Detroit mayor who left the Democratic Party to run as an independent.
After early success with fund-raising and solid polling, Mr. Duggan withdrew from the race in May after seeing his support slip. His exit was widely seen as benefiting Democrats, who had worried that Mr. Duggan would pull more voters away from Ms. Benson than from her Republican opponent.