Democrat beats Trump-backed election denier in key Michigan race

Secretary of state Jocelyn Benson condemns ‘conspiracy theorists and election deniers’ after being re-elected over Kristina Karamo

The Michigan secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, defeated Kristina Karamo and was re-elected to a second term, in a major victory with huge implications for how elections are run in a key 2024 battleground.

Benson’s victory deals a significant blow to election denialism, a growing force in American politics.

“Well, well, well: democracy has prevailed,” Benson said as she took the stage at about midnight after the polls closed on Tuesday to Eye of the Tiger.

“Today Michigan voters showed the world that they will vote for truth over lies, facts over conspiracy theories, real results over empty promises.”

The race was one of several contests around the country for secretary of state – a once obscure office – in which Republicans who sought to overturn the 2020 election results were running to be their state’s top election official. Karamo, who was endorsed by Donald Trump, rose to prominence after falsely claiming she saw fraud as ballots were counted on election night in 2020.

In 2020, she signed on to a lawsuit that sought to overturn the results of the 2020 vote in Michigan. Several of her other far-right views also came to light during the campaign – she called abortion “child sacrifice” and described public schools as “government indoctrination camps”.

Benson, a former law professor, also gained national recognition last year as she defended the election results in Michigan. Trump launched an aggressive campaign in Michigan in 2020 to try to overturn the results of the popular vote, which he lost to Joe Biden by 154,000.

Republican officials at the state and local levels almost refused to certify the vote, nearly plunging the state into post-election chaos. Benson far outraised Karamo during the race.

“It’s certainly a victory in the battle over the future of our democracy that we’ve been fighting now for several years. But our work still won’t be over,” Benson said in an interview Sunday before an event in Pontiac, a city about 40 minutes north-west of Detroit.

Karamo filed a lawsuit in the closing days of the campaign to try and get mail-in ballots thrown out in Detroit, which a judge dismissed and harshly rebuked Karamo for.

“Plaintiffs have raised a false flag of election law violations and corruption concerning Detroit’s procedures for the November 8 election. This court’s ruling takes down that flag,” Judge Timothy Kenny wrote on Monday.

“Plaintiffs’ failure to produce any evidence that the procedures for this November 8 election violate state or federal election law demonizes the Detroit city clerk, her office staff and the 1,200 volunteers working this election. These claims are unjustified, devoid of any evidentiary basis and cannot be allowed to stand.”

In her victory speech, Benson said: “The future of our democracy will continue to face challenges from conspiracy theorists and election deniers who may refuse to acknowledge the true and accurate results of elections here in Michigan and around the country.”

Contributor

Sam Levine in Detroit

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Democrat Cisco Aguilar defeats election denier in Nevada secretary of state race
Victory over Republican Jim Marchant for state’s top elections post is significant win against efforts to sow doubt in US elections

Sam Levine

13, Nov, 2022 @3:11 PM

Article image
The ‘election-denier trifecta’: alarm over Trumpists’ efforts to win key posts
Republican contenders for secretary of state, attorney general and governor have loudly echoed Trump’s false claims of election fraud

Peter Stone in Washington

21, Oct, 2022 @10:00 AM

Article image
The rural Michigan town fighting against rightwing conspiracy theories
A conspiracy theory-touting clerk and far-right supervisor were ousted in Adams Township – but new officials face issues as the 2024 elections loom

Alice Herman in Hillsdale county, Michigan

10, Nov, 2023 @12:00 PM

Article image
Michigan Republicans move to oust conspiracy theory-touting chair
Kristina Karamo, an election-denying activist, won the position last year and is facing a likely vote to fire her at a special meeting

Alice Herman

05, Jan, 2024 @7:52 PM

Article image
Fury at Michigan officials charged in 2020 false electors scheme: ‘This isn’t who we are’
State Republican lawmakers who allegedly signed on as Trump’s false electors in 2020 face anger, prosecution and recall

Alice Herman

23, Aug, 2023 @10:00 AM

Article image
US midterm voters reject election deniers who support Trump’s false claim
Several avid participants in efforts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential contest fell short in the midterm elections

Ed Pilkington in New York and Sam Levine in Detroit

09, Nov, 2022 @5:57 PM

Article image
Michigan GOP chair Kristina Karamo rightly ousted, say RNC lawyers
Swing state’s Republican party has seen two feuding groups claiming to be its legitimate leaders in recent weeks

Alice Herman

25, Jan, 2024 @6:32 PM

Article image
Trump can appear on Republican primary ballot in Michigan, judge rules
Setback for challengers who say Trump should be barred from presidential run under ‘insurrection’ clause of 14th amendment

Sam Levine in New York

14, Nov, 2023 @10:25 PM

Article image
Michigan Republicans prepare for fraught delegate convention
The state GOP had ousted its party chair, Kristina Karamo, in January, but she has not accepted her removal, dividing members

Alice Herman

02, Mar, 2024 @11:00 AM

Article image
The key candidates who threaten democracy in the 2022 US midterms
In several states, Republican candidates who dispute the 2020 election results are running for positions that would give them control over elections

Sam Levine in New York and Rachel Leingang in Arizona

15, Nov, 2022 @2:45 PM