Jocelyn Benson recall, Michigan Secretary of State (2025)

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Jocelyn Benson recall
Officeholders
Jocelyn Benson (D)
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
Signature requirement
Signatures equal to 25% of voters in the last gubernatorial election in the electoral district
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2025 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws State executive recalls Recall reports

Two efforts to recall Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) began on February 27, 2025. On March 14, 2025, the Michigan Board of State Canvassers held a clarity and factual hearing to review the petition language for both recalls. The board denied both recall petitions for circulation because the reasons for the recalls were not factual and lacked sufficient clarity.

Benson was elected as Michigan's secretary of state in 2018 with 52.9% of the vote. She was re-elected in 2022 with 55.9% of the vote.

Recall supporters

First recall

Paul Foust filed the recall against Benson on February 27, 2025. The recall petition listed the following reasons for recall:

“

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is taking far longer than the statute allows to investigate and resolve complaints under the Michigan Campaign Finance Act.

”

Second recall

Paul Foust filed the recall against Benson on February 27, 2025. According to the March 14 meeting of the Board of State Canvassers, the recall petition was related to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson holding a press conference using government-owned resources that were not publicly accessible.

Recall opponents

As of March 2025, Ballotpedia did not identify a response to the recall petitions from Jocelyn Benson.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan

Recall context

See also: Ballotpedia's Recall Report

Ballotpedia covers recall efforts across the country for all state and local elected offices. A recall effort is considered official if the petitioning party has filed an official form, such as a notice of intent to recall, with the relevant election agency.

The chart below shows how many officials were included in recall efforts from 2012 to 2024 as well as how many of them defeated recall elections to stay in office and how many were removed from office in recall elections.

Election history

2022

See also: Michigan Secretary of State election, 2022

General election

General election for Michigan Secretary of State

Incumbent Jocelyn Benson defeated Kristina Karamo, Gregory Stempfle, Christine Schwartz, and Larry Hutchinson Jr. in the general election for Michigan Secretary of State on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jocelyn Benson (D)	55.9	2,467,859
		Kristina Karamo (R)	41.9	1,852,510
		Gregory Stempfle (L)	1.2	52,982
		Christine Schwartz (U.S. Taxpayers Party)	0.6	27,937
		Larry Hutchinson Jr. (G)	0.4	16,615

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,417,903
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic convention

Democratic convention for Michigan Secretary of State

Incumbent Jocelyn Benson advanced from the Democratic convention for Michigan Secretary of State on August 21, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Jocelyn Benson (D)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican convention

Republican convention for Michigan Secretary of State

Kristina Karamo defeated Cindy Berry, Beau LaFave, and Cathleen Postmus in the Republican convention for Michigan Secretary of State on August 27, 2022.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Cindy Berry (R)
✔		Kristina Karamo (R)
		Beau LaFave (R)
	Submit photo	Cathleen Postmus (R)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Green convention

Green convention for Michigan Secretary of State

Larry Hutchinson Jr. advanced from the Green convention for Michigan Secretary of State on April 23, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Larry Hutchinson Jr. (G)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Michigan Secretary of State

Gregory Stempfle advanced from the Libertarian convention for Michigan Secretary of State on July 10, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Gregory Stempfle (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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U.S. Taxpayers Party convention

U.S. Taxpayers Party convention for Michigan Secretary of State

Christine Schwartz advanced from the U.S. Taxpayers Party convention for Michigan Secretary of State on July 23, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Christine Schwartz (U.S. Taxpayers Party)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: Michigan Secretary of State election, 2018

General election

General election for Michigan Secretary of State

Jocelyn Benson defeated Mary Treder Lang, Gregory Scott Stemple, and Robert Gale in the general election for Michigan Secretary of State on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jocelyn Benson (D)	52.9	2,213,243
		Mary Treder Lang (R)	44.0	1,840,118
	Submit photo	Gregory Scott Stemple (L)	2.0	81,849
	Submit photo	Robert Gale (U.S. Taxpayers Party)	1.2	48,816

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,184,026
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

See also

• Recall campaigns in Michigan
• Political recall efforts, 2025

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of Secretary of State - Jocelyn Benson

Footnotes

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