Michigan Dem AG Finds Dem Secretary Of State Violated Campaign Law, But Won’t Punish Her

Michigan Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel said on Monday that Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, also a Democrat, violated campaign law when she announced her 2026 gubernatorial bid in a government building in January. According to Nessel’s office, however, the state law does not provide any mechanism for punishing Benson, who oversees elections and campaign finance, The Detroit News reported.

On January 22, days after she accidentally posted her campaign announcement on social media, Benson officially launched her 2026 bid for Michigan governor inside the Richard H. Austin Building, which houses the Department of State in Lansing. As The Daily Wire reported at the time, Benson was criticized for likely violating Michigan law, which prohibits “a person acting for a public body” from using “funds, personnel, office space, computer hardware or software, property, stationery, postage, vehicles, equipment, supplies, or other public resources to make a contribution or expenditure or provide volunteer personal services.”

Nessel’s office wrote on Monday that Benson “invited members of the press inside the Austin Building” and then “conducted a press conference, professionally dressed, during the day, in the lobby of the building that houses her office.”

“She gave no indication that would lead a reasonable person viewing the press conference to believe that she was there on her ‘personal time.’ Instead, the circumstances would lead a reasonable person to believe that Secretary Benson was acting as Secretary of State with the authority of the Department of State, which is a ‘public body,’ to invite members of the press inside her office building,” the attorney general added.

Those who break the law are guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to up to a year in prison or a fine of up to $1,000. Despite finding that the Democratic gubernatorial candidate broke the campaign law, the Michigan Department of Attorney General said it cannot impose a fine or civil penalty on Benson because the law excludes the secretary of state, according to The Detroit Free Press. The attorney general’s office said that the “unequal treatment” in the law “is something the Legislature may want to consider addressing.”

Nessel’s office did not respond to a Daily Wire request to comment.

Michigan Republican state Rep. Jay DeBoyer told The Daily Wire that he disagrees with the attorney general’s conclusion that the office cannot pursue a punishment for Benson. The law gives the Secretary of State’s office the obligation to refer the attorney general’s findings back to the AG for a punishment, according to DeBoyer.

“If the secretary of state chooses not to refer this, that is an absolute dereliction of duty,” DeBoyer said.

“The opinion that was put out by the attorney general’s office, although finding that there was a violation, seemed to hedge in the direction of ‘There’s nothing we can do about it,'” he added. “There actually is, but it requires the secretary of state’s office to operate in an ethical manner and do what they should do, which is refer this to the attorney general’s office.”

Aric Nesbitt, the Michigan Republican Senate minority leader also running for governor, blasted Nessel’s office, telling The Daily Wire that the attorney general is protecting “her Democrat ally.”

“While AG Nessel, the top law enforcement official in the state, targets Trump with ridiculous lawsuits, she shields her Democrat ally from accountability,” Nesbitt said. “This double standard reeks of partisan bias, undermining election integrity. Michiganders deserve an attorney general who enforces the law, not one who holds herself and her allies above it.”

Benson’s campaign communications director, Alyssa Bradley, said on Monday, “We understand the Attorney General is issuing a new interpretation of the law.”

“We look forward to continuing the conversation with Michiganders about Jocelyn Benson’s vision to make our state the best place to be a kid, raise a kid, and call home by lowering housing costs, making our schools among the best in the nation, and standing up for our rights and freedoms,” Bradley added.

Benson defended her decision to announce her bid inside her office building in January, saying she didn’t want people to stand outside in the frigid Michigan winter weather. She also argued that other candidates could use the space for campaign announcements, a carve-out in the campaign law that would put Benson in the clear. Nessel’s office rejected that argument, writing that her “belief was misplaced.”