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Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II is running for governor, he announced Tuesday, setting up a Democratic primary clash that includes two prominent statewide officeholders in one of the most tightly divided states.
Gilchrist is the latest prominent politician to dive into the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is term-limited, months after Michigan narrowly voted for both President Donald Trump and a Democratic senator, Elissa Slotkin. The state promises to be one of the most important battlegrounds in the country once again in the midterm elections in 2026, when it will also elect another new senator in an open-seat race.
In an interview with NBC News on Monday, Gilchrist, who, if he is elected, would be Michigan’s first Black governor (and one of just a handful in American history), leaned heavily on his record in Lansing and framed himself as a proven problem-solver in private business as well as public office.
“Michiganders are going to need to be able to trust someone to be able to work with them and on their behalf, to have their interests at heart and to solve the problems that they articulate are the most important,” he said.
“I’ve built that trust, have that record, I have that vision, and I’m the only candidate in that race for which all three of those things are true,” he added.
Gilchrist has been telegraphing a bid for some time and he formed a campaign committee last week, but he made his intentions clear in a video on social media Tuesday morning.
Gilchrist, a former software engineer with Microsoft, moved back to Detroit, where he was born, in 2014 after a stint in politics in Washington, D.C., working with future President Barack Obama’s campaign and for the progressive group MoveOn.org as its national campaign director.
Back in Detroit, he worked for the city under Mayor Mike Duggan and narrowly lost a bid for city clerk in 2017 before Whitmer chose him as her running mate the next year.
The field running to succeed Whitmer also includes Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who launched her own bid for governor in January — setting up an intriguing primary battle including two top state officeholders who rose under Whitmer at the same time. Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention, is also running.
Meanwhile, Duggan is also running, but as an independent instead of continuing his longtime affiliation with the Democratic Party.
Benson and Gilchrist are expected to get outside help in their primary battle. EMILY’s List, a group that backs Democratic women who support abortion rights, has endorsed Benson, and the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association plans a “seven-figure” investment to boost Gilchrist, according to its executive director, Kevin Holst.
Lieutenant governors “are the Democratic Party’s bench, and with these types of investments, we look forward to helping to elect the next generation of Governors and Senators across the country,” DLGA chair Austin Davis, the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, said in a written statement to NBC News.
Asked about Benson during the interview, Gilchrist drew a broad distinction between the work he has done in Lansing and others’.
“I’m the only candidate in this race who has delivered on creating economic value for communities across the state of Michigan,” Gilchrist said, citing work creating an economic opportunity fund in the state, work on criminal justice reform and work on affordable housing throughout the interview.
Democrats have had important successes in Michigan in recent years — flipping control of the governorship and the offices of secretary of state and attorney general in 2018 (seats they held in 2022) and taking control of the Legislature in 2022, as well. But Republicans have triumphed, too: Trump won the state in 2016 and 2024, and in November, Republicans took back the state House to end unified Democratic control of state government.
On the Republican side, state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt launched his campaign earlier this year, criticizing Whitmer and Democratic control in Lansing and rhetorically borrowing from Trump, describing his agenda as a “Michigan Students First Agenda and Michigan Families First Agenda.” Others could run, too: Former Attorney General Mike Cox is exploring a bid, and other prominent Republicans, including the 2022 nominee for governor, Tudor Dixon, haven’t ruled bids out.
Gilchrist declined to delve into details when he was asked about one of the thorniest questions in the race — whether Duggan’s bid throws a massive electoral wrench into next year’s general election, especially for a Democrat like him who used to work in Duggan’s administration in Detroit. Instead, he pivoted back to his record.
Asked why Trump found success in the state last year, he said voters may have felt an empathy gap.
“People may have felt like, you know, Democrats weren’t pissed off enough about the status quo and weren’t urgent enough in terms of why the change was needed right now,” he said.
“I’ve always had a change-maker’s mentality and have brought that to my service in government thus far, and I’ll bring it to my service as governor,” he added.
In the early weeks of the Trump administration, Whitmer has repeatedly said she will look to find common ground with Trump but “won’t back down” from fights in her hope to “lead by example.” Asked about his posture toward Trump if he is elected, Gilchrist gave a different answer.
“I’m seeing a lot of chaos and confusion. It’s like calamity coming from Washington,” he said. “I’m seeing it through the eyes of business owners in Michigan, automotive suppliers who have no idea how to plan for the next quarter, they have no idea how to plan for the next quarter — they don’t know what this tariff thing is going to do and how it’s going to play out. I’m talking to people who have family members in skilled nursing facilities or nursing homes, who have no idea what’s going to happen with Medicaid.
“My job as governor is to protect and promote and enhance the interest of state of Michigan,” Gilchrist said, “and I’m going to do that, fortunately, and when somebody is threatening Michigan, even if it’s Donald Trump and Elon Musk, I’m going to tell that story clearly to make sure Michiganders understand where the threat is coming from and advocate on their behalf.
“I’ve got to play defense,” he added, “but I’m a ball player — I’m 6’8″; I’m a basketball player. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense, so I won’t be afraid to take them on.”
Ben Kamisar is a national political reporter for NBC News
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