22 GOP Lawmakers Want Justice Department To Monitor Michigan’s 2026 Elections

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 11/13/2025) Twenty-two Michigan Republican legislators have asked U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to have the Department of Justice oversee the state’s 2026 primary and general elections.

In a letter spearheaded by Rep. Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton) and signed by 21 other GOP legislators, the group cites an “inherent and unavoidable conflict of interest” as Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is also on the ballot for Governor.

“From issuing driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants to Chinese nationals voting in our elections, all signs lead to the same conclusion: Jocelyn Benson is the worst Secretary of State in American history and cannot be trusted to manage our elections,” Nesbitt said. “We’re blessed to have President (Donald) Trump and Attorney General Bondi in office, and I’m confident that they can safeguard our elections from any outside or inside interference.”

Angela Benander, SOS department spokesperson, said in a statement that Michigan's elections “are among the most transparent, secure, and accessible in the nation.”

Benander said elections are run by more than 1,600 local election officials “who are bipartisan, professional, and committed to their work” and they are “consistently monitored by thousands of election observers from both sides of the aisle as well as federal election monitors.”

“And multiple secretaries of state – including state Senator Ruth Johnson (R-Holly) – have run for another office while serving as Secretary of State. Next year’s election will be no different,” she said. "Yet by pouring gasoline on our democracy and asking the DOJ to light a match, these lawmakers ignore these truths. They instead use dangerous, false rhetoric to encourage President Trump to illegally interfere in our state’s ability to hold fair and free elections.

“They are aligning with the administration’s ongoing efforts to manufacture crises in order to justify ongoing federal overreach that puts our citizens’ privacy, safety, and freedoms in danger. This department and Secretary Benson will continue to stand up to these efforts to silence the voices and trample the rights of all Michiganders,” Benander added.

Johnson is one of the Republicans who signed the letter.

The letter says Benson’s candidacy creates “an inherent and unavoidable conflict of interest” since she’d be administering the 2026 elections when she has a “personal state in the outcome.”

The letter outlines the GOP’s concerns, including Benson’s alleged repeated violations of election laws, beginning on the first day of her gubernatorial campaign when she announced her candidacy in the lobby of the Richard H. Austin Building.

Attorney General Dana Nessel gave Benson a “reminder and warning” in May about hosting a gubernatorial campaign press scrum in the state-owned building, but she said her office couldn’t pursue penalties against Benson because she herself would need to refer a recommendation to do so to the AG’s office.

The letter also outlines what the Republicans call Benson’s “troubling refusal to cooperate with federal authorities,” including a recent lawsuit alleging she failed to provide unredacted voter registration records.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel on Thursday said the Republicans' efforts open the door for Trump to “try and interfere in the 2026 election in a pathetic ploy for attention.”

Hertel added: “Michigan Republicans have discredited themselves time and again as they’ve pushed baseless election conspiracy theories. That being said, we understand why Aric Nesbitt, someone who lost the state Senate for the first time in 40 years, would be worried about losing his next election.”