GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Democratic incumbent Jocelyn Benson has been reelected, beating Republican candidate Kristina Karamo in Michigan's Secretary of State race.
The Associated Press projected Benson as the winner around 10 Wednesday morning.
Benson declared victory Tuesday night before the Associated Press declared a winner in the race.
With the 2020 election happening during some of the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Benson spent much of her first term working to expand the ability to vote across the state.
Benson expanded the ability for people to vote absentee by mailing an application to every Michigan voter. She also worked to make the Secretary of State Department more efficient by launching an appointment-based system, opening mobile and satellite offices and expanding online services.
In the run-up to this year's election, Benson tried to undertake more reforms, including seven days of absentee ballot pre-processing as well as the release of unofficial results on election night before tallies are finalized.
Benson is tasked with overseeing state elections and says she has no doubt that the 2020 vote was secure and accurate. Despite 250 audits showing Michigan’s elections were secure and accurate, Benson’s opponent has been one of the country’s most vocal deniers of that.
Throughout her campaign, Karamo made election integrity her top priority. Karamo made a name for herself in the GOP after testifying in front of the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee after claiming she actually saw election fraud while serving as a poll worker in 2020. Though the committee found no evidence of wrongdoing, Karamo still has concerns.
Comments from the past followed Karamo during her run. Remarks comparing abortion to “child sacrifice”, transgender people to “mentally ill adults playing dress up”, and living together before marriage as “normalized pedophilia” had some voters concerned.
Benson started her career by investigating undercover domestic terrorist cells following the Oklahoma City bombing. She served as dean of Wayne State University Law School and is one of the youngest women to be inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.
In 2018, she beat her opponent by 370,554 votes.
Benson held a news conference in Detroit Wednesday afternoon, saying this year's midterm saw record turnout.
Watch the news conference here:
You can find full election results and more 2022 midterm coverage on the FOX 17 website.
