MI-SEN: Benson on Michigan Senate run: 'I'm really happy in my current job'
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson signaled Friday that she is not looking to run for Senate in 2024, telling Meet the Press NOW that she is focused on this election cycle “not as a candidate,” but as an election administrator.
Benson, a Democrat, was considered a potential contender in the newly open Michigan Senate race, after Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow's announcement Thursday that she is not running for re-election.
“I’m really happy in my current job, and I just took the oath of office for my second term a few days ago," Benson said. "My eyes are focused actually on 2024, not as a candidate, but as someone who will be working to protect the voice and the vote of every citizen in our state."
Primaries are expected on both sides of the aisle in the battleground state, and the Senate race could be one of the most competitive in the country. President Joe Biden won Michigan by just 3 percentage points in 2020 after former President Donald Trump carried the state by less than half a percentage point in 2016.
Benson’s comments come as she was honored with the Presidential Citizens Medal on Friday for her work to protect democracy during the 2020 presidential election, with Biden honoring election administrators and volunteers as well as law enforcement officials on the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/benson-michigan-senate-run-really-happy-current-job-rcna64721
