“Now the days dwindle down to a precious few …” Cue Frank Sinatra singing the mournful ‘September Song.’ Time to talk about sadness and mortality. And Charlie’s Angels.
Not the 1970s TV show, but the famous portrait of Michigan’s Big Three: Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Attorney General Dana Nessel, posing for the camera with finger guns and grins. It was the 2022 Democratic Convention, and all three were cruising to re-election. All had been elected in the 2018 Pink Wave and were heralded as a New Era for governance.
It’s always this way. You win, and the road stretches out before you, the day is fresh and full of promise. Like Old Blue eyes sang, “When I was 17, it was a very good year,” and those were very good years indeed. “But now the days grow short, I’m in the autumn of years.” So it’s Year Seven of Eight for the Angels, and what do they have to show for it? Let’s resist the temptation to cite Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Act I, Scene 1, and, like the Roman god Janus, look at the record (and future).
GRETCHEN WHITMER: Lots of tough talk from “Big Gretch” during the pandemic, but draconian Covid policies, emulating the governors of New York and California, are now seriously questioned, even by Whitmer herself. Meanwhile, every pothole laughs at her. She wasted six years failing to ‘Fix the Damn Roads,’ and even this year’s deal with the Legislature yielded far less ($1.85 billion) than what she sought ($3 billion) and is now suspect. Likewise, this year’s budget imbroglio ending with compromise revenue from weed taxes wasn’t a good look. Her sister Angel, A.G. Nessel, is going after Whitmer’s Michigan Economic Development Corporation grant to a Dem fundraiser; Whitmer is getting major pushback in her attempt to fast-track the building of data centers; K-12 Schools continue to rate low; the business climate index is down; there’s a cloud of scandal enshrouding the Michigan State Police and other executive branch agencies; and the Damn Roads won’t be fixed by the time Whitmer leaves office. You might think all that’s left is Lame Duck status — but wait! The most recent public opinion survey shows she still has a healthy 55% job approval, with 37% saying they “strongly approve.” Pollster Steve Mitchell says she should start running for president in 2028 — she has as good a chance as anyone, if not for the top prize then at least VP.
JOCELYN BENSON: Michigan’s SoS generally avoided negative headlines, despite the Republicans’ best efforts. She maintained she was focusing on counting every ballot. Unfortunately, not all those ballots were necessarily connected to qualified voters. Various lawsuits and FOIA requests show a weakness in the system that erodes confidence in election integrity. Did Trump really win Michigan in 2020? No. But Benson’s partisan stripes showed when she used the pandemic as an excuse to mail out unsolicited absentee ballot applications to millions of voters because the law didn’t explicitly say she couldn’t. As SoS, she has been no Candice Miller. Benson is now the anointed Dem candidate for Governor, but the headwinds are fierce — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is running hard towards the center (where Benson is a stranger) and the Republicans might even put up a decent candidate. Her record hasn’t really represented “very good years.”
DANA NESSEL: The acerbic, take-no-prisoners Nessel has made a name for herself as the scourge of bad people. Former A.G. Frank Kelley aka the “Eternal General” beat up on corporations, utilities, and Blue Cross for generations. But Nessel’s main claim to fame was her relentless pursuit of what she called the “False Electors” who certified Donald Trump as a winner in 2020. Unfortunately, the courts threw out her cases. Ditto with her criminal charges against former Gov. Rick Snyder and his team for alleged misdeeds in the Flint Water Crisis. In fact, has Nessel won anything of significance? A loud, partisan bully with police powers is really all she has to show the average citizen. For whatever reason, Nessel doesn’t appear interested in pursuing future elective office, which is a good thing. Unless she produces a few miracle wins in her final year, she’ll go down as one of the worst Attorneys General in Michigan history.
So, the endless possibilities all end up in Lame Duck Land. Benson is the only one of the three who is overtly seeking public office in 2026, and she may well become Governor. But what will she and the other two Angels have to show for their tenures? Maybe it was Fantasy Island all along.
Now, as Janus, the two-headed Roman god of transitions, looks forward, what does he see?
He sees a Mitchell Research & Communications, Inc., poll, sponsored by Michigan Information & Research Service, Inc. (MIRS). The survey questioned 616 likely November 3, 2025, voters, along with smaller groups of likely Democratic and Republican primary voters. It was conducted November 18–21, using text message links to an online survey and online panels. Mitchell Research was ranked the 13th most accurate pollster out of 136 in America by ActiVote. Mitchell R&C was rated more accurate than the New York Times, Washington Post, ABC News, CNN, and all other Michigan pollsters.
In the Democratic gubernatorial primary scheduled for next August 4, Mitchell Research found that Benson (48%) has a strong lead over Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist (12%) and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson (5%).
In the race for the Republican nomination for governor, John James (48%) is in the lead, with former
Attorney General Mike Cox (11%) in 2nd place. Following up the field in the GOP primary were former Michigan
Speaker of the House Tom Leonard (5%), Michigan state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (2%), and Rev. Ralph
Rebrandt (1%), with (33%) still undecided.
In the Nov. 3, 2025, General Election, James (37%) leads Benson (31%) by six percent, with Duggan (18%) in 3rd place and 14% undecided.
Benson (33%) leads Cox (32%) by one percent, with Duggan (19%) in 3rd place and 16% undecided. Benson (32%) leads Nesbitt (27%) by five percent, with Duggan (22%) in 3rd place and 19% undecided.
So, at this time, the three top Republicans in the GOP primary are either leading or trailing closely with Democratic
front runner Jocelyn Benson. As we look toward the important 2026 elections, it appears the Republicans have at least two strong candidates to run against Benson.
Steve Mitchell himself says: “John James, who lost two U.S. Senate races before being elected and re-elected to Congress in 2022/24, and Mike Cox, who lost a race for governor in 2010, are now the leading GOP candidates for governor next year. Cox, Aric Nesbitt, and Tom Leonard are raising money and intend to be very competitive. It’s too
early to count out anyone, although James is clearly in the driver’s seat.”
Outgoing Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who is running for governor as an independent, is getting about 20% of the vote in all three scenarios. At this time, Duggan seems to be doing slightly better with Democrats than with Republicans.
Duggan does four percent better with Democrats (15%) than Republicans (11%) against Cox, and six percent
better against James.
Mitchell also threw in what is called a “Generic Congressional Ballot” (GCB) Question, which found that
the close battle in the governor race is consistent with the GCB findings that Democrats (45%) lead Republicans (43%) by two percent in Michigan.
Mitchell also asked Donald Trump’s Job Approval/Name ID in Michigan and found that, although Trump is almost universally known, he’s slightly underwater in his job approval. Almost half (47%) approve of the job he’s
doing while a little over half (51%) disapprove.
And that’s the way it is, at least for now …..
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Michigan voters give Trump a 10 point better rating than the national as a whole. I am truly disappointed in us.
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Very interesting analysis.
Nice article, Bill. And a fun critique of the “angels” (though I suspect some readers of TBR might wish to add the adjective fallen before angels).
A good synopsis on Gretchen. High levels of popularity with little serious accomplishments, the personification of activity masquerading as accomplishment. As for the “damn roads”, she would have been better off using all the “Biden Bucks” during COVID to spend on the roads. It’s not where I would have spent it, but dropping billions on fixing the roads would have been good PR for her and would have delivered a tangible benefit for all – including her most passionate detractors – that would have hard to dismiss.
As for Benson, I wonder if the Detroit News now regrets endorsing her. Oh well, I guess only Mr. Finlay can answer that. Back in May of this year, you ran an article entitled “WILL TRUMP KILL DEMOCRATS’ FUND-RAISING MACHINE?” that featured a story from “The Bulwark”, a never-Trump publication. Charlie LeDuff in his NO BS NEWS HOUR podcast/YouTube show just ran a story on a Smurf donor from Lansing in Jason Roe’s old neighborhood. It appears that a retiree has been giving lots of small donations to various Democrats – including Benson – that she could not afford let alone recall making. Benson also seems reluctant to provide the Feds with our voter rolls, and this could also keep her in the news, but necessarily in a good way as Mr. Mitchell’s polling shows about a year away from the general election.
As for Ms Nessel, I can’t disagree with your assessment of her as (i)N FACT, HAS NESSEL WON ANYTHING OF SIGNIFICANCE? A LOUD, PARTISAN BULLY WITH POLICE POWERS IS REALLY ALL SHE HAS TO SHOW THE AVERAGE CITIZEN. FOR WHATEVER REASON, NESSEL DOESN’T APPEAR INTERESTED IN PURSUING FUTURE ELECTIVE OFFICE, WHICH IS A GOOD THING. UNLESS SHE PRODUCES A FEW MIRACLE WINS IN HER FINAL YEAR, SHE’LL GO DOWN AS ONE OF THE WORST ATTORNEYS GENERAL IN MICHIGAN HISTORY. Mr. LeDuff has also run some stories on her not being especially aggressive with those she agrees with. He also has a bone to pick with her on a FOIA request that he paid for but I don’t he has received yet.
Now the fun part will be when Janus takes a look at our state’s deteriorating education system that manages to radically increase the number of administrators in local school districts, as noted earlier this year in Bridge Magazine, with collapsing test and achievement scores and declining enrollment in those same districts. It took some doing, but the folks running Michigan’s education system now have us looking up towards Mississippi as a role model. Or at least a state’s scores we wish to emulate. Maybe when it comes to school boards, it might be time to re-elect no one.
“Mr. LeDuff has also run some stories on her not being especially aggressive with those she agrees with………..”
Like these gemss:
(A) Michigan Democratic Party vice-chair Fay Beydoun suspected mismanagement of multi-million grant – no charges despite long investigation and search warrant issuances – or even a civil suit to recoup monies;
(B) Southfield City Clerk Sherikia Hawkins charged with felonies including mishandling 193 absentee ballots – plea deal with no jail time or even probation – Hawkins pays fine;
(C) Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith charged along with other prosecutorial officials with mismanagement of $600,000 in forfeiture funds – plea deal results in ONE DAY of jail time for Democrat Smith with sentencing Judge Grant commenting her hands were tied by plea agreement;
(D) City of Hamtramck election violations – no charges despite massive probe by AG investigation team until Nessel – under public pressure – reassigns case via the Prosecting Attorneys Coordinating Council to Monroe County Prosecutor Jeff Yorkey who promptly charges two city council members with absentee voting violations.
Thanks for this important analysis.
I cannot not add anything more to the TBR opinion of the Dana Nessel tenure as Michigan Attorney General. I agree 100%.
But in case anyone has missed the “Fake Elector” case progress, the AG’s time limitations for filing an appeal of right to the dismissal by District Court Judge Kirsten Simmons has expired, so it appears that Nessel may agree with the legal conclusion by Judge Simmons that her criminal charges were devoid of legal merit.
I also agree with the TBR opinion of Jocelyn Benson.
But I add that the op-ed piece in the Hamtramck Review is also on point. They were critical about the ongoing controversies in elections in that jurisdiction that have gone on for years without serious attention by Ms. Benson. Right now, Hamtramck City Clerk Rana Faraj has been placed on administrative leave by the City Manager after she had testified to the Wayne County Board of Canvassers regarding 37 absentee ballots that were untabulated but found in her office the day after the election in which the mayoral race was decided by only eleven votes. There have been ballot irregularities in almost every Hamtramck election since Benson assumed office in 2018.
On the other hand, Republican Stanley Grot had his election administration duties as Shelby Township Clerk suspended by Benson after being charged in the ill-fated “Fake Electors” case by Nessel. Those charges were dismissed in Lansing as meritless.
Benson made the silly mistake of using public property to promote her governor candidacy and was called out by many, including fellow Dem Dana Nessel, who concluded that the Michigan Campaign Finance Act was violated.
Personally, I believe that John James is going to be the next governor of Michigan – even though he is not qualified due to lack of experience in state government. Duggan is clearly the superiorly qualified candidate. Cox and Benson have experience in state government as well – as does both Leonard and Nesbitt.
Mr. James is my 10th District Congressman – he resonates well with his constituency and professes to be a devout Christian, war veteran and family man. Raised in Detroit, he is likely to garner a decent percentage of voters in that jurisdiction that most GOP candidates would ordinarily not receive.
It is conceivable that in 2026, a Democratic party nominee for the first time in history will not acquire 50% of the votes in a governor’s race in the City of Detroit.
Hamtramck City Clerk Rana Faraj just filed a 45-page lawsuit alleging whistleblower retaliation in response to her attempts to ensure local elections were fair.
What happens if Harmeet Dhillon gets Michigan’s voter rolls?
What happens if Brooke Rollins gets Michigan’s SNAP rolls?
What happens if Mehmet Oz gets Michigan’s Medicaid rolls?
Is Minnesota a harbinger of Michigan’s future?
God, I hope not.
Why else would Michigan’s bureaucrats delete and erase all Microsoft Teams communications after 30 days? Transparency is the enemy of our nomenklatura.
Bridge Magazine, today:
‘Michigan quickly deletes government chats, raising transparency questions’
By Simon D. Schuster – December 9, 2025
“Requests for communications between state officials filed by Bridge Michigan have been repeatedly denied because the records, if they existed, have been deleted.
* Chats between state officials on Microsoft Teams platforms are erased 30 days after they’re created
* Transparency advocates are concerned the policy obscures conversations between government officials
* Officials have said the 30-day deletions are purely about data storage, not hiding information”
This is simply untrue:
“But Benson’s partisan stripes showed when she used the pandemic as an excuse to mail out unsolicited absentee ballots to millions of voters … ”
It never happened, except in the minds of dishonest partisans, and confused journalists.
They mailed APPLICATIONS, which you, or I, or anybody else on earth, can legally mail to anybody. The question before the courts was whether the expenditure for printing and mailing was proper, not the handling of actual ballots. The Secretary of State has never had the legal right to handle printed, unvoted, ballots. She doesn’t have that right today. Ballots are always printed at the direction of local clerks, and delivered by the printer to those clerks. The local clerks mail them out, and none of them mailed ballots to anybody in 2020 or 2022 to anybody who hadn’t requested a ballot in writing.
The law has finally changed – through the process of constitutional amendment – to allow local clerks to mail ballots to people under expanded circumstances – but even that didn’t happen until the adoption of the amendment by the voters.
Bill has (inadvertently) regurgitated the dishonest talking points of the Detroit News and the Republican Party, who have repeatedly pretended not to understand the difference between BALLOTS and APPLICATIONS. I assume Bill can honestly say the mistake was caused by confusion on his part, but I’m sure it was also the result of hanging around with people who intentionally misstate history and law.
Bill –
Thanks for correcting the text so promptly.
But when the same error is made repeatedly, which directly accuses Benson violating Michigan law, and making up new election procedures for illegal partisan reasons, it isn’t some minor typo. The DetNews folks deliberately spread exactly the same lie for years, and consistently rejected my requests to correct the false record they were creating.
If somebody says it’s not a big deal whether unrequested BALLOTS were mailed to voters, or APPLICATIONS were, why can’t they stick to the version that’s actually true – since they say it doesn’t make any difference?
-mark grebner
On October 25, 2007, the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld a permanent injunction against Detroit City Clerk Jackie Currie regarding the mass mailing of 150,000 absentee voter APPLICATIONS holding that there was nothing in state statute that authorized her to mail ANY absentee ballot applications to ANYONE absent a request from that person.
In the Currie case, the person suing her was a Democrat candidate for City Council who obtained an order placing the entire absentee voter program for the Detroit City Clerk placed into receivership.
The Detroit City Clerk had been accused of mass mailing the absentee applications to such locations as a juvenile correctional facility – and for sending “ambassadors” to nursing homes to “assist” patients in voting – many of whom were mentally incompetent and unable to understand the voting process.
Jackie Currie and her husband, Charmie Currie, Jr., were first accused of improper solicitation of absentee ballot applications by the Wayne County Prosecutor in 1964 and the case against her was dismissed in a plea bargain in which her husband was convicted of a misdemeanor reduced charge.
Nationally, the percentage of voters casting their ballots via absentee has been about 14% – but at the same time under Jackie Currie’s tenure it had been 30%-60% for Detroit voters – strongly suggesting something was amiss in the manner Detroit had been administering their absentee ballot program.
When Currie passed away in 2009, her successor, City Clerk Janice Winfrey labeled her “a Detroit legend” – “I stand on her shoulders”.
More recently, the Hamtramck City Clerk has been placed on leave amid the Wayne County Board of Canvassers investigating absentee ballot irregularities and an unusually high percentage of ballots needing to be “cured” due to defects discovered, including voter signatures not matching those on file.
A number of Hamtramck residents are boycotting the elections due to a perception of fraud occurring.
In sum, there has been ample proof that the absentee ballot system has been broken in a number of jurisdictions.
That’s correct – but it’s not what Republicans say to each other in private. It involved APPLICATIONS, and whether the clerk was authorized to send them.
The legal situation is actually very simple: APPLICATIONS for absentee ballots don’t have any specific format, aren’t printed on special paper, aren’t numbered, or logged, or controlled in any way.
I can print APPLICATIONS on my laser printer, and slip them under every door in my condo complex – absolutely nothing illegal about doing so. The Detroit folks had been mass mailing applications to everybody over 60 for many years. Was that a good use of City money? Maybe – it’s nothing the law really cared about.
Lansing has a city-owned golf course. Do you think it would be illegal for the Parks Dept to mail everybody a flyer about tee times, youth leagues, and group rates, unsolicited, to potential golfers? I’m pretty sure the courts would hold that it was within the legal power of the City government to do so, notwithstanding the absence of explicit authority.
The only reason mailing absentee applications became a big deal was the deliberate misrepresentation by Republican officials and the Detroit News that claimed BALLOTS were involved.
It took ten conversations with Beth LeBlanc to finally get her to stop spreading lies about it. I’m glad to see that you limited yourself to truthful statements in your comments above.
You are much more enthusiastic about the lies of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which you wholeheartedly endorsed without any apology.
Thank you Bill. The “God” of Janus, looks back and then forward.
That is true, so, Michigan Republicans need to remember A. Lincoln “We cannot escape history”
Only 2 Governors who were Republican for 20 years from 1963-1983. George Romney-7 years ; Wm. Milliken-14 years.
I’d like to know what became of the vast multi state 2020 voter fraud investigation by the Michigan State Police that was turned over to the FBI. It must have fallen into the memory hole. I’d also like a certain three witches to fly off into the sunset.
The statute of limitations has either expired or shall expire shortly on any possible criminal offenses that related to the Muskegon City Clerk complaints.
Hmmm, let’s see, Bill. Janus . . . the Roman god of beginnings and transitions . . . also of doors and arches. Julius Caesar must have loved Janus as he transitioned the Romans through his arch of victory from a Republic to an Empire with himself as the despotic potentate at the top.
And who is at the top here in Michigan with a yen to ascend further? Perhaps to the imperial presidential throne? Why none other than her highness, herself, Gretchen Whitmer. Along with her closest of companions, SOS Benson and AG Nessel.
Bill, you’ve done a very good and well thought summary of their deeds, feats and accomplishments to date. Or, er, well, perhaps their highest aspirations anyway. Finding progress is illusive as you deftly point out.
But hey, what can one expect? Looking for progress from these three modern day “Caesar-ettes” toiling in today’s modern day “Roman Empire” equivalent, is like reading the excuses for lack of progress in the reports issued by the wolf pack put in charge of the chicken coop. Or putting it in the Lingua franca you suggest here in your report: Explaining away the lopsided wins of the gladiators versus the Christians. Oh, but the victory parades were so fun!
So, here is my quick (hah!) take away from the polling numbers you focus upon. All polling is a snapshot in time and will undoubtedly change. But more than that, frankly, I don’t believe the starting point of these numbers. Way too optimistic for the Chris . . . er, Republicans. Mike Roger’s number may be close, until the Steven’s band wagon gets tuned up. But the John James numbers seem off. Clearly not capturing the strategy I believe he is employing. It appears James is using the tried-and-true tactics of past Republicans including Engler, Snyder, Reagan and others, which is to NOT debate your opponents too soon while you have a clear lead in the polls. The Republican version of letting the tension build until finally appearing in public with his vanquishable foes in order to perform the coup de grace. “Mr. Speaker! I am paying for this microphone!”, said Reagan. As everyone else on the stage looked like minions. Or Trump’s, “I prefer my heroes not captured”. I suspect Mr. James to be prepping for such a moment. If not, he should.
But so close to Benson in the polls at this time? Nah. Someone appears to be making the numbers close for Benson’s sake, not James’. Or is it for Duggan’s?
Please forgive for me making a short story long, Bill. I’ll save my amends as a new year’s resolution a little later this month.
Widespread contemporary Roman commentary on Julius Caesar’s love life:
“Every woman’s man and every man’s woman”.