Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson saw a campaign finance complaint filed against her upon the launch of her gubernatorial campaign Wednesday alleging she improperly used public resources for her candidacy. Benson’s campaign denies any wrongdoing.
Christian Charette, a former Republican state House candidate, posted a copy of the complaint he filed in a post on X. In it, he alleges Benson’s use of a lobby of a public building to answer media questions about her gubernatorial campaign violated Michigan law concerning the use of public resources for a campaign. Benson spoke with media inside the Richard H. Austin Building Wednesday and said she didn’t want to make reporters stand outside in the cold and that other candidates also would be permitted to use the lobby.
Asked to comment on the complaint Thursday, the Benson campaign communications director Alyssa Bradley said in a statement: “The lobby space used is a public space where First Amendment activity can occur, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the operation of the building.
“Many candidates have used the lobby before,” Bradley added and reiterated Benson’s invitation for other candidates to use the space in the future.
Michigan Department of State Chief Communications Officer Angela Benander confirmed that a complaint was received by the Bureau of Elections from Charette, but said the department does not typically share copies of campaign finance complaints until the campaign accused of a violation receives a notice and has a chance to respond.
Benander said the complaint must be referred to the Attorney General’s Office because it involves the secretary of state. The Attorney General’s Office has not yet received such a complaint, that office’s press secretary, Danny Wimmer, said in an email Thursday afternoon.
At least one GOP-aligned attorney expressed shock at Benson’s decision to talk to the media about her campaign where she did. “I mean WOW,” wrote attorney Charlie Spies in a post on X.
Steve Liedel, an attorney specializing in campaign finance law who previously served as legal counsel to Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, called the alleged violation “a stretch.”
According to Liedel, it’s not clear under Michigan campaign finance law if the lobby of a state-owned building would even constitute office space or a public resource. “The lobby is a public resource? No more so than the steps to that building or the sidewalk in front of that building,” he said. He also noted that the law has an exception for the use of a public facility “if any candidate or committee has an equal opportunity to use the public facility.”
A different venue choice for her media availability Wednesday could have saved Benson the headache of a complaint, Liedel said. “Could the secretary have avoided that by having a campaign event somewhere else? Perhaps. Perhaps for messaging purposes you might have wanted to send a different message with your launch event other than you’re a state bureaucrat who works in a state building, right? But that’s a messaging choice. Legally, I’m not aware of any precedent that would indicate that this would be a violation of the Campaign Finance Act,” Liedel said.
Michigan Elections:Jocelyn Benson, Secretary of State, announces run for Michigan governor
Charette’s complaint also alleges that Benson used her office to hold conversations across the state to inform her campaign, citing a video of her remarks to reporters Wednesday. In that video, Benson talks about traveling the state to talk to voters. She did not name the venues for those conversations or specify whether she made those trips in the course of her duties as secretary of state. Bradley said that the community conversations Benson held over the last few months were held by her Michigan Legacy PAC in coordination with local elected leaders — not by Benson’s office.
Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743.
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