Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has handily won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, defeating Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson.
The unofficial result of the race was called by the Associated Press at 9 p.m., just after the last polls in the state closed, with unofficial results showing Benson leading 85% to 15%. Benson’s initial margins were widest in Kent County and Alger County, though as of 9 p.m., Swanson was not winning any county.Â
Benson consistently held a commanding lead in polls in advance of the primary, with polling from earlier in July giving her a 60-point margin over Swanson.Â
She similarly outperformed Swanson in fundraising. During the reporting period beginning Jan. 1, Swanson raised just over $722,000 and spent around $806,000, leaving him with about $187,000 in cash on hand. Meanwhile, Benson raised $4.9 million and spent $2.1 million, and has over $6.4 million in cash on hand heading into the general election.
The general election was initially expected to be a three-way race, with former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan running as an independent, but he dropped out in May. Though he had been pulling support from both Democrats and Republicans, some had been concerned about him playing spoiler for the Democrats in a general election, given the fact that Duggan was a Democrat for all 12 years in the Detroit mayor’s office.Â
However, with Duggan no longer in the picture, Republicans will have to figure out how to single-handedly tackle Benson, who enters with more money on hand and without the baggage of facing the primary attacks that Republicans have been levying at each other for months.Â
Three recent polls show Benson winning over both James and Johnson, though her margins were wider over Johnson than James. However, some in the Republican Party, including consultant Dennis Lennox, have argued that Johnson’s access to significant self-funding and his grassroots momentum would do more to boost down-ballot candidates in the state legislature than James would.Â
Results for the Republican primary in the race are still uncalled, as of 9:08 p.m.
Originally published on michiganadvance.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
Please disable your ad blocker, whitelist our site, or purchase a subscription
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.