The 2026 elections will decide many things. One of them is who will administer the 2028 presidential election in one of the nation’s largest swing states.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson cannot run for reelection in 2026, meaning the state will have a new top elections official for the first time in eight years. Six candidates are running to replace her: Democrats Barb Byrum, Garlin Gilchrist, and Suzanna Shkreli and Republicans Anthony Forlini, Amanda Love, and Monica Yatooma. A fourth Republican, Articia Bomer, filed paperwork to run but told Votebeat she was dropping out and endorsing Forlini.
In Michigan, the two major parties each pick their secretary of state nominees (along with their nominees for attorney general and state Supreme Court) at endorsement conventions instead of primary elections. Republicans will hold their convention on March 28, while Democrats will hold theirs on April 19.
Votebeat reached out to the major-party candidates to ask their opinions on some of the biggest topics in election administration ahead of the conventions.
The questions: What do they think about requiring people to prove their citizenship when registering to vote? What are their thoughts on the security of Michigan’s elections? And what, in their opinion, is the most important part of the job of secretary of state? Elections, of course, aren’t the only part of the job in Michigan — the secretary of state also runs the driver’s license offices and vehicle registration, for example.
Yatooma could not be reached for an interview. Love initially agreed to an interview but then did not call Votebeat back. All other major-party candidates are listed alphabetically below.
Barb Byrum
Byrum, a Democrat, launched her campaign in May. She served six years in the Michigan House from 2007 to 2012. She was elected Ingham County clerk in 2012, a job she won again in 2016 and 2020.
Proof of citizenship
Byrum noted immediately that noncitizen voting is against the law and that there are checks in place to prevent it.
“As a clerk, if I find out a noncitizen voted, I absolutely [would] have gotten all of the information — the application to vote, as well as the voter history — and [turned] that over to law enforcement to do what law enforcement is supposed to do,” she said.
She pointed to state requirements that anyone without an ID who goes to vote signs an affidavit verifying their identity under penalty of perjury.
Election security
Byrum said she is “uniquely equipped” to address election security given her time as a county clerk. She said she’s managed 42 elections while clerk and served on a number of statewide and national boards focused on elections.
“I have quite a bit of experience when it comes to election security and technology,” she said. “I’ve done numerous tabletops [exercises where election officials simulate various hypothetical scenarios] with emergency managers around the state and the secretary of state’s office and other clerks, in regard to all of the physical security concerns that occur during Election Day, early voting, and during absentee counting boards.”
What else is important in the job?
People want a secretary of state who understands election administration, Byrum said, but they also want someone who will listen.
“I have that as well,” she said. “I owned and operated a retail hardware store for 20 years. I was raised in a family business, so I know how to listen to customers and implement their desires.”
Anthony Forlini
Forlini, a Republican, launched his campaign in September. He started his political career as the supervisor of Harrison Township before serving in the Michigan House from 2011 to 2016. He ran for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District in 2016 but came in fourth place out of five candidates in the primary. He was elected Macomb County clerk in 2020 and won the seat again in 2024.
Proof of citizenship
Forlini believes that it’s not enough for people to self-report their citizenship when they register to vote. The government “has some responsibility,” Forlini said, to verify their citizenship. He pointed to his recent attempt to find noncitizens on the voting rolls by comparing them to the jury pool as an example. That effort flagged 15 voters as potential noncitizens, although the secretary of state’s office later said that only five of them appeared to be, while at least three were citizens after all.
“How does this happen? Why does it happen? It’s a systemic problem, not a political problem,” he said. “Nobody wants noncitizens in the jury pool or on the voting records. … So we need to set up systems that are better to avoid this happening.”
Election security
Forlini said he believes Michigan’s elections are physically secure, adding that at least in Macomb County, voters do not feel threatened when they vote and are able to vote their conscience. He was less certain about cybersecurity, saying that when he initially became clerk, he felt there were “holes that could have been manipulated.”
“I think all clerks need … to do a little better job in holding the standards and the protocols in place,” Forlini said.
As clerk, he said he took measures to improve election security such as using watermarked paper for ballots and hash validations on tabulators — an algorithmic tool that helps election officials verify software was not tampered with after certification — and offering more training for clerks and election workers.
What else is important in the job?
Forlini said that while the job of secretary of state has a lot of responsibilities, one thing he thinks no one is paying attention to is the Office of the Great Seal, which manages requirements for notaries public.
“Who is notarizing the notaries? Think about it. With today’s technology, we don’t have … any good processes in place to ensure that that notary did indeed sign and notarize the signature,” he said. “It’s a huge, huge hole. Why do I know that? Because I’m also the register of deeds, and I see it.”
He added that “the bad guys” have figured out how to forge signatures in a way that looks legitimate. Concerns about that don’t often draw a lot of attention, Forlini said, because the office is “behind the scenes.”
Garlin Gilchrist
Gilchrist, a Democrat, joined the secretary of state race in January after dropping out of the race for governor. He has served as Michigan’s lieutenant governor since 2019. He also ran for Detroit city clerk in 2017 but was defeated by incumbent Clerk Janice Winfrey.
Proof of citizenship
Gilchrist said that voting is “reserved for citizens” and that anyone who votes despite not being a citizen needs “to be held accountable for that to the fullest extent of the law.” He also noted that “vanishingly few noncitizens … actually cast ballots.”
“As a process person, I want to make sure that we get that number to zero. I also want to make sure that we are focusing on the right things, and that is again making sure we have a good process,” he said. “But frankly, I want to make sure that more eligible voters in Michigan are doing what they need to do so that they can cast ballots.”
He said his goal as secretary of state would be to increase voter turnout and to protect the state and its voters from “any threats or any interference from the federal government trying to infringe upon our constitutional responsibility as state election officials to operate our elections.”
Election security
Gilchrist said Michigan has made progress on making sure voters know their ballot will be handled securely after it is cast. The state’s elections have withstood a number of audits, he said, demonstrating the state is doing a good job.
“We’re going to continue to make sure that our processes can be safe and secure,” he said. “I want to make sure that we are focused on the right thing. People having confidence in the voting process means that more people will participate in the voting process.”
He pointed to his experience as a computer engineer as an example of making systems work for people.
What else is important in the job?
“It is also important that we bring the whole range of services provided by the secretary of state’s office to the 21st century, making sure people have good experiences in person at the offices, online by appointment, or drop in,” Gilchrist said. He pointed to the state’s campaign finance website as an example of something that needs to work to “shine a light on the dark in our politics.”
He also emphasized a desire to protect Michiganders’ private data to avoid it being used by the federal government for surveillance. Gilchrist pointed to his experience as a software developer as evidence that he takes cyber threats seriously.
Suzanna Shkreli
Shkreli, a Democrat, launched her campaign in December. A lawyer by training, she has served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Macomb County and deputy legal counsel for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. She has also worked as the director of the Office of Children’s Ombudsman, director of juvenile justice reform at the state Department of Health and Human Services, and commissioner of the Michigan State Lottery. She unsuccessfully ran for Michigan’s 8th Congressional District in 2016, losing to then-Rep. Mike Bishop.
Proof of citizenship
Shkreli said that she took issue with the idea that Michigan doesn’t require proof of identity to vote, as anyone who isn’t able to show ID when voting has to instead sign a legally binding affidavit. The discussion around it needs to change, she said.
“The president and [GOP] party leadership and the Republicans are peddling in lies and conspiracies about how our elections are not secure when they are,” she said.
The SAVE Act — a bill currently being considered by the U.S. Senate that would require people to prove their citizenship when registering to vote — would make it harder for people to vote, she said, adding that she didn’t want to see clerks in a position where they had to authenticate people’s documents.
Election security
Shkreli pointed to her experience as a prosecutor and in the governor’s office as evidence that she knows how to handle emergencies. As deputy legal counsel, Shkreli worked the meeting after the 2020 election where Michigan’s electoral votes were officially allocated to President-elect Joe Biden.
“We didn’t really know what to expect, but because of our preparation, we were able to thwart those fake electors and deliver on the governor’s constitutional obligation,” she said.
She considers protecting the vote to be one of the most important parts of the secretary of state’s job and hopes her experience coordinating across agencies will allow her to better support clerks with clear training and communication.
What else is important in the job?
Shkreli argued that the secretary of state’s office is “the most important office that is up for election this year.” She said that the office is “really all about elections right now because of what’s happening across the country,” and that her experience in emergency management makes her especially suited to the role. But that’s not all, she added.
“This is such an important office that gets things done for people every single day,” she said. “Although elections are top of mind for folks, the secretary of state’s office is really making government and life work for folks.”
If elected, Shkreli said she wanted to expand mobile units and improve on customer service and delivery of service across the state.
Hayley Harding is a reporter for Votebeat based in Michigan. Contact Hayley at hharding@votebeat.org.
