Lansing — Democratic candidate for governor Jocelyn Benson is considering three Michigan politicians with years of experience in the state Legislature to be her running mate this fall, two sources with direct knowledge of the deliberations told The Detroit News Thursday.
Benson’s internal process of picking a lieutenant governor has been playing out for about a month ahead of Tuesday’s primary election and has involved key Democratic stakeholders and groups, the sources said. The sources requested to speak on the condition of anonymity because the considerations are ongoing and a decision hasn’t been finalized.
As of now, the sources said, the top contenders to run alongside Benson are former Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich of Flint, current Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Sarah Anthony of Lansing and current Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks of Grand Rapids. It’s still possible that someone else is the ultimate selection, the sources cautioned.
In Michigan, the lieutenant governor serves as president of the Senate and can help usher a governor’s legislative agenda through the Capitol. Gubernatorial nominees typically pick former lawmakers for the post.
Ananich, Anthony and Brinks would bring knowledge of both the state House and the Senate to a potential Benson administration and come from geographic areas outside of Southeast Michigan. It’s expected that the rest of the top of the Democratic ticket will be residents of Washtenaw, Oakland and Wayne counties, within the Detroit media market.
Flint, Lansing and Grand Rapids have their own TV markets.
Benson, Michigan’s current secretary of state from Detroit, is widely expected to win Tuesday’s primary election. Her lone opponent for the Democratic nomination is Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson of Fenton, whom polling has shown trailing Benson by 60 percentage points.
Under party rules, the nominee for governor has to file a form designating their pick for lieutenant governor by Aug. 25. A convention will take place on Aug 29 in Lansing for party members to make the selection official.
Alyssa Bradley, spokeswoman for Benson, said the campaign is “focused on learning what Michiganders need from their next governor to lower costs, raise wages and protecting rights and freedom and have no further comment on our lieutenant governor selection.”
“That decision won’t be made until after the primary,” Bradley told The News.
Democrats previously chose Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit as their candidate for attorney general and current Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II of Detroit as their candidate for secretary of state. Gilchrist was relatively unknown in 2018, when Democrat Gretchen Whitmer picked him to be her running mate.
The party’s nominee for the other race at the top of the November general election ticket, U.S. Senate, will be either former Wayne County health official Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor or U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham. Voters will pick a winner on Tuesday.
Ananich would add a person from Michigan’s fifth-largest county, Genesee, to the Democratic slate and might be able to win over any voters in that county who were hoping to see Swanson become the nominee for governor.
Ananich, 50, served in the Legislature from 2011 through 2022, helping Democrats win full control of the state Legislature and the governor’s office in 2022, for the first time in 40 years.
He was a prominent lawmaker in the state’s response to the Flint water crisis. Currently, he is the president and CEO of the Greater Flint Health Coalition.
On Thursday, Ananich said he was glad to see the City of Flint get some love in the lieutenant governor deliberations.
“Winning the trifecta again and moving the state forward is my top priority,” Ananich said.
Republicans currently control the state House.
Anthony, 42, became the first Black woman to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee in 2023 and has helped craft four budgets under Whitmer, the two-term Democratic governor. She’s been in the Legislature since 2019 and represents the Lansing area.
“It’s an honor to be considered,” Anthony said on Thursday of her name being included on the list of potential lieutenant governor candidates.
Unlike Ananich, who previously left the Legislature, and Brinks, who can’t run again for the Senate because of term limits, Anthony is seeking reelection in 2026.
If Benson chose her to be the Democratic lieutenant governor candidate, Democrats in her Senate District, which leans heavily Democratic, would have to pick someone else to replace Anthony on the ballot.
Brinks, 58, has been the top Democrat in the Senate since the beginning of 2023 and would add a prominent political figure from West Michigan to the Democratic ticket.
Brinks is the state Senate’s first-ever female majority leader. She was first elected to the state House in 2012 and won her seat in the Senate in 2018. Before serving in the Legislature, she worked for a Grand Rapids nonprofit as a caseworker aimed at improving workplaces.
She didn’t respond to a request for comment Thursday.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Jocelyn Benson eyes these 3 prominent lawmakers to be her running mate
Reporting by Craig Mauger, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Craig Mauger, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
