by
Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchirist II
After having a series of behind-the-scenes discussions with the Democratic Party, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II announced Monday that he was dropping out of the governor’s race to run for secretary of state.
Gilchrist tells the Detroit News he was not pressured into that decision.
In a statement in a video posted on X, he said:
"I am suspending my campaign for governor. The time for me to serve that role may come but now it's not that time. At heart I'm a public servant, an entrepreneur, a dad, a husband and an engineer who spent a lot of my life making government actually work for people.
"I'm not done with that, not by a long shot. You've told your stories about the high cost of everything and the threats to our democracy. You sounded the alarm about this president who acts like a king and you know Michigan has been Ground Zero in the battle for free and fair elections before and it will be again.
"This tangled web of corruption and control is meant to crush our power to participate. We have to fix this. If we don't, we can't fix anything else. That's why today i'm declaring my candidacy for secretary of state of michigan to defend and fix this democratic system so it can help solve our challenges not make things worse."
Gilchrist had been trailing polls in the Democratic primary behind Democrat Jocelyn Benson, secretary of state, and had an uphill battle to win.
Former Democratic state Sen. Adam Hollier has already declared his candidacy for secretary of state.
I’m a public servant, an entrepreneur, a dad, a husband, and an engineer who spent a lot of my life making the government actually work for people. I’m not done with that, not by a long shot
— Garlin Gilchrist (@garlin) January 12, 2026
Today, I am declaring my candidacy for Secretary of State of Michigan. pic.twitter.com/Q9C31yGBtE
