At the beginning of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s new memoir, armed protesters surround her house.

It’s December 2020, one month after the presidential election that Joe Biden won. He was not the preferred candidate of the armed mob shouting outside Benson’s home. 

The protestors yelled “treason” and “lock her up.”

In the moment, Michigan’s top election official tried to play it cool, all while her 4-year-old son sat unknowingly in front of the television watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Benson was indeed scared that night. But as she points out in her book, “The Purposeful Warrior,” “standing up to bullies” is nothing new for her. 

She did it investigating white supremacists in the American South, while she was dean of Wayne State’s law school, and during her tenure as Michigan’s Secretary of State amid President Donald Trump’s lies of a stolen election.

Benson joined The Metro this week to discuss her new book and why she is running to be Michigan’s next governor.

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Former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox has announced that he’s running to become governor next year. 

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He delivered the news Tuesday in a campaign video, saying the state should eliminate the income tax and promote right to work measures. He also says Michigan schools should “teach A-B-C’s not DEI.”

Cox was elected as Attorney General in 2002, serving in the role until 2011. He ran for governor in 2010, but finished in third place in the Republican primary. 

Other Republicans who have declared their candidacy for next year’s gubernatorial race include Congressman John James, state Sen. Aric Nesbitt and former U.S. House candidate Anthony Hudson. Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson are seeking the Democratic nomination in the August primary, and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is running as an independent.  

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer can’t run again because of term limits.

Other headlines for Wednesday, April 16, 2025:

• Dearborn mayor Abdullah Hammoud delivered his annual State of the City address Tuesday night at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center.
• Detroit Deputy Mayor Malia Howard joined other city officials and residents Wednesday morning to celebrate the success of the Detroit Land Bank Authority. The agency has helped to rehab more than 12,000 vacant houses in the city since 2014.
• The schedule has just been released for the Detroit Pistons’ first round playoff games. The team will play the New York Knicks on Saturday in Manhattan. Game one starts at 6 p.m. Game two is also in New York at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, with games three and four to be held in Detroit.
• Detroit broadcaster Guy Gordon is no longer on the air at WJR after he was released by the radio station as part of cost reductions.

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